Temporal Intersections
by Vivi 26
Summary: Five years after SeeD Sonnet, the world has become progressively more hostile to Sorceresses, leaving Squall & Co to plan for a Last Resort. Meanwhile, an ancient threat re-emerges in the distant future, along with the discovery of an old friend.
1. Chapter 1: Portents

Chapter One: Portents

_Sand was the only thing that could be seen for miles in any direction. After a couple of turns where every direction is observed, revealing even more sand, a few people come into view carrying various pieces of equipment._

"_Are you recording this?" A voice asks._

_A tall silver-haired woman, clad in black, and with distinctive ruby red eyes, holds up a sphere._

"_Of course," Silver Hair responds, "Someone has to record the details of this thing, whatever it is."_

"_And as you're neutral," The original voice speaks, "there can't be any accusations of bias."_

_Silver Hair nods, and turns to face the partially excavated object. All that can be seen is an off-white semi opaque surface that seems to cause anyone's eyes to slide off of it._

"_When was this found?"_

"_About six months ago. It was apparently discovered by fluke, and it's taken this long for any of it to be dug up. Whatever it is, it's big, and ancient."_

"_Is it glowing?" Someone else asks._

"_I don't…"_

"_What's that?"_

"_It's approaching us?"_

_Suddenly a bright red flash obscures everything, and a mixture of monstrous sounds can be heard, along with humans screaming._

"_What's going on?"_

"_So many fiends!"_

"_Get to the boats!"_

_Another new voice, this one was male, and with a strong commanding tone._

_The view suddenly changes to blue, as the clear ocean waters reflect the sky. Looking back, a thick red column can be seen stretching ever upwards, and the base of it was spreading outwards._

"_Is everyone ok?" Silver Hair's voice asks as she cautiously lowers a broadsword with a skull near the guard. She still had hold of the sphere device, somehow._

"_No," Another voice responded, "We've lost Akyema. The…horde must have…swallowed her."_

_This speaker, a blonde woman with dazzling green eyes, looked to be on the verge of tears as she rested her hands on her knees._

"_I'm sorry. I know you and she were close friends."_

_The blonde nodded, wiping her eyes, and then gasped at something that she could see opposite her._

"_Incoming!" She called, drawing a pair of curved daggers from sheaths on her hips, as Silver Hair lifted her sword again._

_Back at the red column, which now had a base that seemingly enveloped the whole island, some pieces of it were taking to the skies: including at least two large shapes that were heading straight for them!_

_There was a flash of red and black, possibly scales, accompanied by an inhuman roar, and followed by an ear-piercing scream._

_*********************************************************************_

Ellone shot awake, with her light brown hair plastered to her skin, and tried to swallow to get some moisture back into her raw throat.

In a panic, she looked all around her, before realising that she was in her bedroom in her Balamb City home. The ever expanding city had been her home for the last four years since she had moved closer to her adoptive family.

Pushing herself up, and swinging her legs out of bed, she brushed her damp hair away from her face, and reached for the glass of water on her bedside cabinet.

_I need to talk to Squall,_ She thought as the warm water slid down her throat,_ this is the fourth time I've had a dream like that since he asked me to Connect to __**her**__ in order to learn how to do his Last Resort move. I'm sure that these dreams, if they are dreams, started around the same time._

Ellone rested her face in her hands for a few seconds, and letting her breathing calm down again, before she got up and entered her small bathroom for a shower. It wouldn't do for her to visit Balamb Garden looking like she had been scared to death.


	2. Chapter 2: Practise

Chapter Two: Practise

She spotted a glint of metal in her peripheral vision, and ducked on instinct, causing the three slender metal blades to pass over her head. Once they had cleared her head, she kicked out to her left, impacting with her assailants shins.

As her assailant stumbled, Asuka dived to her right, rolled, and grabbed her katana. She pulled herself up, and then pointed her katana blade at the ground, tipping it downwards as her assailants claws slid along its surface. Using her assailants' sudden momentum against her, Asuka spun around and twisted her blade so that the blunt side was touching her assailants' neck.

Alicia's hands relaxed and her claws retracted back into her gloves.

"You **have** been practising. I feel like I'm moving in slow motion compared to you."

Asuka opened her coat, and slid her katana into the sheath that a late friend had sewn into the lining for her.

"You're faster in hand to hand combat. And, you could always train a little more yourself," Asuka pointed out, pulling her sparring partner to her feet, "Although I admittedly do train a little too often."

"I would say so," A third voice spoke, "But it has clearly benefitted you."

"Morgan," Asuka acknowledged the younger man, and tried not to glare at him as she felt his eyes roam up and down her body, "What brings you here?"

_He can't keep his eyes under control!_

"Oh right! The Commander wants to see us. Apparently our group has a mission in Oak."

"Anything major?"

"I don't know."

"Lead the way then." Asuka gestured towards Balamb Garden, a short distance away, hoping he would stop leering at her.

* * *

Squall scratched his scar, wondering if he had made a mistake in asking Ellone to Connect Rinoa's mind to Ultimecia's. The Last Resort, as it had been dubbed, really was a move of desperation which could have consequences for everyone and everything. Ironically, if it did become necessary, Squall and his close friends wouldn't be around to see the immediate side effects.

"Squall, are you even listening to me?"

"Yes Ellone. I regret your nightmares. And I suspect that a Lunar Cry wouldn't be a nice thing to be caught in the centre of, but I think it's a bit of a long shot that my request is the cause of them."

"It wasn't a request Squall, and you know it! I couldn't turn you down, even for something as insane as that."

Her hands were clenched into fists, which said more about how she was feeling than her words ever could.

"It may be insane, but if it keeps us alive, I don't care!"

A faint smile passed across Ellone's lips, which was quickly replaced with a look of annoyance as she leaned heavily on the desk.

"I can't believe you're being so selfish! Don't forget…"

"Don't forget what, Ellone? I don't owe Garden or SeeD anything now. I don't owe the world anything either. Especially after what has happened in the last few years. Just because Adel and Ultimecia were trouble doesn't mean that Rinoa will be too! There have been a lot of Sorceresses throughout history who never harmed anyone. Because of two troublemakers though, the world has now decided that **all** Sorceresses are trouble!"

"How are things here?"

Surprised at the change of topic, Squall sighed and placed his face in his hands:

"Not good. Applications have fallen by about another 10% since last year, revenue is down by nearly half, available SeeDs are down by a third, and we've been hearing rumours of a no-confidence vote being arranged."

"Against you?"

"Yes. Most SeeDs apparently don't like the way I run Balamb Garden. I've had three directly attack me in the last two weeks. They won't be around here again."

"Squall! You didn't kill them?"

"No! Of course not. They needed medical care, but I wouldn't kill them."

"So because you are married to a Sorceress, people don't trust you." Ellone summarised.

"Correct, claiming they have problems with how I run SeeD is a smokescreen," Squall placed a folder on his desk, "That's a report from Esthar Military Intelligence. The Sorceress Resistance, as they are apparently calling themselves, has been trying to buy some of Esthar's old weapons and mechs. They want their own army, and the target is to be any Sorceress that exists."

"Was Aoba involved in this?"

Squall suspected that Irvine or Selphie had told her about the activities of Trabia Garden's former Headmaster, which had killed several SeeDs, and damaged Balamb Garden, five years prior. The unfortunate victim of his manipulations was still contained in the D-District Prison, which was a small comfort.

"I don't know. I suppose it's possible that he left some kind of time-delayed email message before we arrested him, which informed some people that Rinoa is a Sorceress. From there, this movement has slowly arisen and is now threatening us."

A notice appeared on his computer monitor, which meant that Commander Leonhart had work to do.

"My appointment is here Ellone. Can you meet us later for dinner? Rin and I would like to see you as a family member for a change."

"All right."

"Also," Squall wrote something down and held it out to her, "Take this to Doctor Young. He might have something that will help you to sleep."

Ellone cautiously took it, hoping that she wouldn't have to rely on tablets for a good night's sleep.

* * *

Sitting outside the Commander's Office, Asuka wondered about what could be happening at Oak that required a SeeD team.

Since all major nations had signed a non-aggression pact four years ago, which included all of them reducing their militaries by a third; there had been very few calls for SeeD.

The number of jobs available, in fact, had dropped so much that the Garden applications were down by nearly half over the last five years, resulting in fewer SeeDs overall. Not only that, but fewer jobs meant less income. Several times over the last few years, the SeeD wage scheme had had to be negatively adjusted, causing some SeeDs to leave, as they could get higher paying and safer jobs elsewhere. Around half of the Garden personnel including SeeD members had also left once it became public knowledge that Instructor Leonhart was a Sorceress. What wasn't widely acknowledged was that she hadn't chosen to accept the power from Edea, but they had been forced upon her. For some reason, the general public didn't care about that little detail.

Headmaster Cid had retired, claiming that his dream had been achieved and was in good hands. Asuka had doubts about that though, given recent developments regarding Sorceresses. Doctor Kadowaki, Balamb Garden's Chief Medical Officer, had also retired, leaving none of the original staff still working for SeeD.

On the other hand, technology had also made a few leaps, primarily in transport and communication. Esthar had built nearly two-dozen _Ragnarok_ ships over the last five years, and they now provided safe and fast air travel between most major towns and cities. Trains and ferries were still used, but mainly for freight rather than passengers. SeeD still had the original _Ragnarok_, but it wasn't used very often due to the costs involved.

There was also an experimental technology being tested around the world, known as an infolink. It was basically a small sub-dermal communicator that was implanted under the cochlea of a person's ear, powered by the bioelectricity generated by a human body, and it allowed almost instantaneous communication between people. More importantly, messages could only be heard by the intended recipient as it was transmitted directly into a person's inner ear. A sender had to connect their infolink to one or more other infolinks belonging to whoever they wished to speak to and effectively 'dial' the other(s). This was done using a voice activated receiver that was implanted close to a microphone, using a user specified key word that would "awaken" the device, and then saying the name of the contact(s) that you wished to communicate with, concluded by the vocal command of "dial". The transmitter/microphone component, which was implanted just above the vocal chords in the neck, was also vocally activated when the call was established, and then the sender could speak (or even whisper) for the message to be picked up and sent in real-time. Additionally, due to a rotating encryption system, there was no way for a call to be electronically eavesdropped on, since people couldn't hear the thoughts of others, which is what an infolink call qualified as since it sounded like a voice inside your head. It could, in theory, be heard if a person was close enough to the sender, but they would also need very sharp hearing. In addition to all of that, it could also be set to radio level frequencies, again using vocal commands, permitting radio communication. A separate vocal command would close the communication, or if on standby, shut the device down. Reactivation was done by tapping the neck close to the microphone, and saying the awakening key word again.

Via a satellite network, set up using the _Ragnarok_ fleet before Esthar released them as an air ferry service, real time communication was now possible worldwide, and these satellites allowed the use of mobile phones, as well as the infolink devices. Each major city had a central server which allowed for registration of mobile phone numbers, and infolink data, all of which was shared with servers in other cities. Before SeeD had started to become somewhat redundant, the Gardens had also had their own dedicated servers installed for their phone & infolink details, which were heavily encrypted and only accessible by the highest ranking SeeDs.

Most SeeDs had such an infolink, but it was their choice if they had one implanted or not. Asuka and Alicia did, and were among the few who knew where it had originated, but she didn't know about Morgan, the recent addition to their squad, as he had never mentioned that he had.

Asuka was jolted from her musings by the doors slamming open, and a familiar individual leaving the office. Standing up, the redhead intercepted her.

"Are you ok Ellone?"

The brunette looked surprised to see Asuka there.

"Hi Asuka," She replied, looking tired and pale, "I'm fine; I just needed to talk with Squall."

"Is there anything I can help with?"

"Not at the moment thank you, but I'll let you know."

"Please do. Remember that I still owe you for showing me what her life was like."

"I thought you weren't going to wear that, in case you broke it?" Ellone looked at the silver teardrop pendant around Asuka's neck.

"I changed my mind. She was able to wear it for many years, and it never got damaged. Plus, it's my way of remembering her everyday."

"I see."

"The Commander will see you now." A voice called from the office.

* * *

All three stood before the desk, and the lone, tired looking, man sat behind it, before saluting.

"Balamb SeeD Squad 7, reporting as ordered, Commander!"

"At ease," The Commander instructed, causing them to lower their hands, and either place them into pockets, or just hold them at their sides, before he pointed to three folders on his desk, "Those contain your mission. Please read them, and then return them before you depart in the morning."

_No chance to ask questions,_ Asuka realised, _it's either an easy mission, or he trusts me with the responsibility._

Asuka was the Captain of their squad, due to her rank and experience over the last five years, and therefore often entrusted with the details of her squads missions. At 25, she was among the more experienced SeeD members, excluding the Commander and his friends.

As the lift descended, she glanced at her folder, and observed that the mission was a simple monster cleanup near to Oak Town, one of Timber City's satellite towns. All of the monsters were apparently low-level, but they were in larger numbers than usual, prompting the request for SeeD. As she read about the sightings of Wendigoes, Anacondours, and Grendels, she remembered her first time on a mission of that type from Trabia Garden.

"I didn't know I had to retake my exam." Alicia quipped.

Asuka appreciated her attempt at humour, but could see the pain in her eyes. Pain that Asuka herself was trying to hide.

"Wait," Asuka called as they reached the Directory, which had been upgraded to a touch-screen information panel after the original map board had been destroyed five years prior, "Does anyone have any questions about this mission?"

"Err, yeah, I do," Morgan raised his hand, "Am I right in thinking that this mission could take a few days?"

"It might, depending on the situation when we actually get there. So take a couple of changes of clothes, and any essentials. We can stay at one of the hotels if we need to."

"Understood ma'am."

"Anything else?" Morgan shook his head, "Alicia?"

"No."

"Very well. Assemble here at 0800 tomorrow. We'll take a Garden car to the City, and catch a train to Timber from there."

"Yes ma'am." Morgan saluted, and then left.

Alicia didn't move though. As she often did, her eyes were focussed on one part of the Hub.

"I can't believe that it's been 5 years." She quietly stated.

"Not quite. This time next week will make it five years. I hope to go to Winhill then, and see Rei."

"Not your parents?"

"No, of course not! They disowned me; I don't want anything to do with them anymore. They've not really been in my life for ten years, and I don't see any reason to change that now."

"What about Sonnet?" Alicia wasn't surprised by Asuka's raised voice.

Asuka shook her head sadly, "The last time I spoke to Colonel Quinn; he informed me that the tower had been unchanged since we buried it. Just like every other time."

"That's a shame, I was hoping for something to have happened by now."

"I was too. But Mr Shuuichi did say that it was a long shot that she would revive."

"We can still hope." Alicia pointed out, trying to keep her friend, and herself, happy.

"That's all we can do," Asuka agreed, "Ok. I'm going for a swim, so I'll see you in the morning?"

Alicia simply nodded, and moved away as Asuka headed for her dorm, not seeing the tears from the redhead's eyes.


	3. Chapter 3: Hunting Mission

Chapter Three: Hunting Mission

Even though the world was getting less and less friendly to SeeD, since a mercenary force wasn't required in a world of (mostly) peace, the docks at Balamb City still housed SeeDs transports and assault boats. There was also the train station, and most trains still had a private SeeD carriage.

Alicia and Asuka were sat on opposite sides of the SeeD carriage, while Morgan paced in circles around it. Asuka was trying to meditate, a skill that she was still only a novice at, but she couldn't ignore what she was hearing.

"Would you please stop that?" She demanded of Morgan, causing Alicia to glance up from her novel as he sat next to her.

"Sorry ma'am, I'm just nervous."

"How many missions have you been on now, Morgan?" Asuka opened her eyes.

"Five, including this, ma'am."

"And you paced like this before all of them?" She thought back to the other mission where he had been part of the team.

Morgan nodded.

"Didn't you consider getting a book or a magazine to keep your mind occupied?" Asuka tilted her head towards Alicia.

"No," Morgan looked sheepish, "I hadn't."

Asuka refrained from smiling. Morgan wasn't a bad person; he just had a tendency to miss the obvious, and also had a lot of difficulty keeping his eyes under control around women. This latter trait often got him into trouble with others, which wasn't enough to make Asuka hate him, as she often did with new people. Instead, she found him to simply be a little irritating.

The eyes trait Asuka could compare to a certain SeeD Instructor that she knew. Even as a married man, his eyes still wandered. Luckily his wife understood him, or he would have more than bruised shins to worry about.

"Maybe you should consider doing that on future missions?" Asuka raised a red eyebrow, "What kinds of stories do you like?"

"Mysteries, mostly."

"There you are then; you do have something that can be used as a distraction before missions."

"We can call into the Timber bookshops," Alicia suggested, putting her novel into her bag, "It's between stations for Timber and Oak."

_Attention please. Our next stop is Timber City, Gainsborough Station. Could all passengers please ensure they have their belongings before they depart? Repeat: our next stop is Timber City, Gainsborough Station. Could all passengers please ensure they have their belongings before they depart? Thank you._

"That's our cue." Alicia said, with a raised eyebrow as she stood up.

Morgan held out Asuka's bag as he shouldered his own. Asuka nodded her thanks as she pulled herself to her feet, and took it from him.

En-route to their next train, they did as Alicia suggested, and Morgan walked out with a new mystery novel in his bag. Alicia also couldn't resist tormenting Asuka about her choice of book:

"You're a poor liar 'I don't read books like that Alicia.' Honestly, you need to practise a little more."

"Shut up!" Asuka glared, "I said I don't often read them."

"Yeah, yeah, you keep telling yourself that."

Asuka shoved the book into her bag as she stormed past Alicia.

"What's on her back?"

"I caught her out," Alicia explained, "And she can't think of a smart reply, so…" She tilted her head towards the shop exit.

"That's a bit childish." Morgan observed.

"She's a great strategist," Alicia shrugged, "but her sense of wit seems to suffer."

"Is that all it is?" Morgan asked, before following Asuka out of the shop.

* * *

Asuka pulled Morgan to one side of the carriage as the train departed, away from Alicia, as she wanted a quiet word with him.

"Is something wrong ma'am?" He avoided eye contact, demonstrating his nervousness to Asuka.

"Don't look so nervous, I'm only curious as to weather or not you listened to me last time I asked you not to call me that. I prefer "Captain", and save "ma'am" for any employers."

"All right Captain, but why do you prefer that?"

"I don't like it when you call me that. "Captain" is fine."

"Why does it make you uncomfortable?" Morgan asked, his perceptiveness surprising Asuka.

"It's not uncomfortable, it…"

"…makes her feel old!" Alicia had clearly been listening again while pretending to read.

"Oi!" Asuka threw a potion bottle at Alicia's head, which exploded into a smoke cloud…

* * *

After the smoke bomb incident, and a ventilation of the train carriage, the trio settled down and occupied themselves in their own way for the duration of the journey. Morgan had tried to make a joke out of it, but a glare from Asuka had convinced him to keep quiet.

Upon arrival at Oak, they looked around for their client, and it didn't take long for an elderly gentleman to approach them.

"Good morning. Are you here for the museum tour?"

"No sir. We're here to visit the new library."

"Ah! So you are the history researchers. Please follow me, we've been expecting you."

According to Garden policy, the correct code phrases, uncomfortably reminding Asuka of a part of her past that she would rather lose, had been exchanged, so this gentleman appeared to be their client. They followed him into a medium sized house, and from there a small study which had bookcases lining all four walls, like a miniature library.

"Thank you for getting here so promptly," the gentleman said, after introducing himself as Marcus, "The townspeople have selected me to act as their representative for the duration of our business deal. I trust that you have been briefed?"

"Yes," Asuka spoke, as Squad Captain, "We are to neutralise a build up of monsters that are surrounding the town and report back to you."

She turned away from a shelf containing autobiographies as she spoke, keeping an eye on her team-mates and her surroundings.

"Correct. You aid will be greatly appreciated. I can provide you with a limited supply of medical potions and any ammunition that you may need, and also recommend a good hotel should you need to stay for a while."

"Thank you, but we don't use guns, and we have enough supplies for our mission."

"Do you have any information on the build up?" Alicia queried, replacing a book on the desk that she had nearly knocked onto the floor.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Marcus passed them a piece of paper, "That scan shows the positions of the larger clusters over the last 2 hours."

The scan was actually a satellite photo, which displayed heat sources as bright red areas. The two largest sources were in the north-west, and south-east. Asuka studied it for a few minutes before addressing the other occupants of the room.

"Sir, how often can you update these scans?" She held up the photograph.

"Every ten minutes."

"Ok, here is what we're going to do," She nodded as she felt the pre-mission rush that she was used to, "We'll recon the south-east sector first, followed by a systematic search & destroy sweep. If Marcus can keep us informed, we repeat for the north-west once south-east is clear. Hopefully all can be done today, but we'll have to play that by ear. Are there any questions?"

Their client spoke after a few seconds:

"Can you provide a time estimate at all?"

"No sir, not without examining the areas first."

"I understand, here," He held out three somewhat old radio headsets, "Could you take these with you and keep me up-to-date? The satellite data alone isn't very helpful."

"Of course, but we all have infolinks," Morgan subtly nodded at her questioning glance, "So if you would prefer, we can set those to a mutual radio frequency and communicate that way."

"Very well. What frequency would you prefer to use?"

* * *

Alicia somersaulted to the side as the head of an Anacondaur fell where she had been standing seconds before. Her second target dived at her as the third was defeated by Morgan's embedding a longbow arrow in its head.

The third Anacondaur struck her before she could even acknowledge Morgan's support, resulting in her claws barely grazing the creature as she span around, and tried to retaliate. She could also feel her arm bleeding as the bite had punctured through her skin, and her vision was starting to swim as the poison was burning through her veins.

_Damn! No antidotes._ She thought, as she checked her pockets.

In her almost double vision, and from the ground, she could see an Ice ball forming over the creature's head, before it fell and shattered on it, killing it. As it dissolved, she leaned on her hands to prevent herself from collapsing altogether.

"Here Alicia," One of her teammates was behind her, holding her head up, "Drink this."

The contents of a flask were slowly poured into her mouth, and with its usual quickness, the antidote neutralised the poison. A Cure spell then healed the bite.

"Thanks." She mumbled as she pulled herself to her feet.

"No problem," Morgan held out another flask, "Take this in case of any future bites."

* * *

According to the data that they had been given, the heaviest monster concentration in the south-east area was ahead of them, and updates from Marcus had informed them that he could see four large heat sources left there. They all had their weapons ready and they were primed for battle.

Asuka was feeling wary, due to a suspicion in her mind that they were walking into a trap. Additionally, they had found odd devices where a few of the tougher monsters had fallen, which weren't helping her shake that suspicion.

As the forest thinned out, they spotted a trio of Ochu monsters, which attacked them immediately. After a few minutes, Morgan had to use his special attack, Arrow Cluster, to defeat one while Alicia used her Ice spells to finish another. The last one was then attacked via attrition between it and the three combatants. After landing a strong slice with her katana, Asuka could feel the ground shaking, and was shocked when the Ochu was rammed aside by what appeared to be a large walking skeleton similar in shape to a T-Rexaur.

They all dished out a few hits before it retaliated.

"Triad formation!" Asuka called as it used its tail three times in succession to injure them all, resulting in the three of them forming a triangle around it.

"It's called a luu-tulang!" Morgan called to her and Alicia, having managed to Scan it, "It's weak against Fire, but is very sturdy. This won't be easy!"

Asuka glanced around, relieved that there were no other monsters close by, and having a good idea why that was, before performing her own Scan and verifying Morgan's information. The monster's name and its apparent weakness was all that the Scan could determine.

"Morgan, keep Suzaku ready. I think we may need her power," Asuka instructed, noting that the use of a triad seemed to allow it to only injure a single fighter when it attacked. Alicia, she also observed, was using her incredible reflexes and agility to avoid the attacks aimed at her. That was something Sonnet also would have been capable of, but she had had an advantage over Alicia who managed it by regular training and hard exercise.

While Asuka did a lot of training herself, it was mainly katana training and swimming for exercise. She wasn't a gymnast like Alicia.

After checking her mental link with Genbu, hoping his multiple status ailments wouldn't be required, she altered her grip to a single hand as she triggered her infolink microphone with the other

"Marcus, we've been ambushed by a new kind of monster. I think it's the last one in the south eastern sector though!"

[Confirmed, I'll update my scans. Please inform me when it is dead.]

As she spoke, she saw Morgan cast a Fira spell on the skeleton, melting a few bones in its ribcage. The luu-tulang didn't like that, as it then span in a circle, injuring all three of them. Asuka felt her whole body shake as its tail impacted on her katana, which was held in guard position in front of her face, minimising the damage she took.

A green flash in her peripheral vision caught her attention and Morgan cast a Cure on himself, and Alicia jumped over the tail.

"Don't use anything elemental!" She called, "That only seems to annoy it. Weaken it normally, and then we can finish it with Fire!"

She had to resist her own temptation to cast a Blizzard spell, and instead settled for a strike at its back as it moved to bite Alicia. The left a faint _x_ shape mark along the creature's spine and the tips of a couple of ribs also broke off.

She saw Alicia gesture with her right hand, and raised her katana to shoulder height in acknowledgement.

"Morgan! Distract it, Alicia needs cover!"

While he was probably annoyed by being made the target, Morgan did as she instructed and struck at its tail, the arrows embedding deeply into the bone, and drawing its attention. Once it was facing him, Alicia ran at Asuka, who placed her katana onto the ground and crouched down, one hand over the other, palms up. Wincing at the shock at Alicia's foot pressing on her hands, and the other on her shoulder, she focussed her strength and boosted Alicia as she jumped up high, somersaulting before landing on the luu-tulang's back. Alicia then released her claws, and stabbed both sets deeply into the spine. The luu-tulang shook violently, but it didn't fall. Morgan then cast another spell on it: Cura. The effect was surprising, as the creature almost bent over double from it.

As Alicia landed on the ground, rolling to her feet, and Asuka reclaimed her katana, a strategy formed in her mind which resulted in her taking a two handed grip.

"It seems to be Undead!" Morgan called, confirming her strategy, "Cure hurts it!"

Trusting her teammates to follow her instructions, and also protect themselves, she called out:

"I have a strategy. Alicia cast the strongest Cure you can," Asuka then had to avoid another tail sweep, "I'll then attack it, once I get clear you summon Suzaku."

"Understood." Both of them replied, before Alicia placed her left fist in front of her face, the claws acting as a physical barrier for her protection, and her right hand over her heart, retracting the claws.

_Note for next time, get more Protect spells._ She thought to herself as Alicia began her spell casting. The pale green aura surrounding her in a column that seemed to bubble at its highest point as she stretched out her open right hand, before the Cura spell erupted from her fist, and struck the monster in the head. In retaliation, it tried to bite her again, but she was able to jump away. This gave Asuka the opening she needed for her part:

Similarly to Alicia, she chose the most powerful Fire spell she had at her disposal, a Fira, which she held in her palm for a second before brushing her katana blade through it, coating the metal in flame. Reaffirming a two handed grip, she charged at the back of the luu-tulang, spinning her Elemental Blade so that the tip was pointed downwards, and dragging it along the length of its spine. Once she reached its head, she stabbed downwards, before pulling the blade back out, and jumping off its head, her coat trailing behind her.

"Morgan! Suzaku!" She called as she hit the ground.

Suzaku took less than a minute to appear, although it felt much longer to Asuka as the monster attacked twice more. As the Guardian Force entered their dimension, and they shifted to its realm, and how it worked was still a mystery to scientists all over the world, she watched the Guardian attack.

The Firebird emerged from a red/orange portal that formed in the ground a few feet in front of where Morgan had been standing, spinning vertically with its wings wrapped around its body. It stopped spinning once it was about 5 feet off the ground, and spread its red-gold wings, causing embers to fall from the feathery tips, even though the bird itself didn't seem to be burning.

Two flame bursts were fired at the skeleton monster from its beak, which split into four before they impacted the ground. The four points erupted into columns of flame, and after Suzaku's spread her wings out fully and her eyes flashed white, they converged into one large column at the point where the luu-tulang was standing. Asuka observed several of its bones melting as the fire dispersed and Suzaku flew up and out of sight. As she transitioned back to the normal realm, she watched it collapse to the ground and dissolve.

"That was close." Alicia retracted her claws into her gauntlets, as Asuka rested the flat of her katana on her shoulder and approached her team mates.

"Nice strategy Captain." Morgan complimented.

"Thanks, and good work you two."

Alicia only bowed her head, as she was talking to their client.

"Marcus, the south-east area should be clear now."

[Understood. I'll verify that and let you know.]

Asuka spotted Morgan crouched where the luu-tulang had fallen, and pick something up with a frown.

"Problem?" She called, making him jump.

"Yes, maybe, I've found another device."

He tossed it as Asuka held out her hand, allowing her to catch it and examine it as best she could.

Like the four others, it didn't look like much, a small cube with multi-coloured wires trailing out from two faces. It felt light, but also very solid as far as she could determine through her gloves.

"Keep hold of it, and we can pass them onto Garden when we get back."

"Understood." Morgan placed the device into a pocket on his combat trousers. Asuka had put the two she had found inside her coat.

[Excuse me, but could the three of you return immediately please?] Asuka heard Marcus' voice in her head as she replaced her katana into its sheath, [Something odd has happened!]

"What do you mean by odd?" Asuka tapped her cheek, reactivating her microphone.

[There are no major heat traces in the north-west area anymore. It's like they've all gone.]

_That is odd!_ Asuka considered as she signalled to her team to leave the area.


	4. Chapter 4: Discovery

Chapter Four: Discovery

Two sets of eyes, three ocean blue eyes, and one emerald green eye watched as the outer door slid closed, the ceiling lights changed to red, and the powerful fans activated. The artificial breeze passed through the hair and clothing of the two occupants in the chamber, blasting most of the accumulated sand out.

As the breeze died and the fans wound down, the lights changed back to green and the inner door slid open. The airlock's occupants removed their goggles, and hoods, smiling at each other as they heard the voice of their host before they saw her.

"Hiya Yunie, Tidus. Good to see you both again." Rikku greeted, pulling first her cousin, then her brother-in-law into a hug, and then finally leading them into the corridors of Home. Since their time in the Gullwings, Rikku had gone back to wearing her more Al Bhed style of clothes for reasons known only to her: the peach coloured vest with the long blue trails, green shorts with yellow belt, and brown knee high boots that were cream coloured around her calves with green crosses on the shins. Yuna suspected that it might have been due to the mutual agreement to disband the Gullwings as a Sphere Hunting group, but not as friends once Tidus had returned.

Tidus still dressed primarily in his Zanarkand Abes Blitzball uniform or a Besaid Aurochs one as he now played Blitzball for them, and shared the role of Captain with Wakka. Yuna had compromised between her Summoner clothes, and her Gullwing clothes: she had kept the yellow bands on her upper arms, as well as the white vest with a frilly pink band over her stomach, pink hood, and the Abes symbol on her chest, and her knee-high black boots. However, she had swapped the shorts and half-skirt for a knee-length version of her Summoner skirt with the floral pattern. Finally, her long pigtail had gone, but her hair was still long enough to reach the middle of her back and was now in a plat.

Both of them also had hooded cloaks over their clothes, made of a sheer yellow/white material, which provided some protection from the desert weather.

For weapons, Tidus had kept the Brotherhood sword that had been a gift from Wakka, Yuna used her guns, to Tidus' amazement, and Rikku continued to use her crimson daggers with circular handle guards.

It had taken a few months for Tidus to adjust to the changes that his friends had gone through while he had been gone, especially how outgoing and determined Yuna had become, and that she willingly used _guns_. However, he was glad to be back, with her, and also being able to play Blitzball again.

"Are Paine and Skye already here?" Yuna queried, while once again wondering how Rikku could find her way through Home so easily. This was her fifth visit since it had been rebuilt, and all of the corridors _still_ looked the same to her.

"Yep, they got here yesterday after dropping a few passengers off at Guadosalam using their newest airship, the _Phoenix_."

"LeBlanc again?" Tidus guessed, "Is she their main passenger?"

"I don't know," Rikku admitted, "Even you know how open Paine usually is. Skye seemed cheerful enough though, since their business is doing well. They are making more money than they ever thought they would."

"Good for them, those three Dragon airships have certainly been put to good use."

"Yep. Although I'm still amazed that Paine managed to work with Gippal for that time until she could afford to buy one of them from the Faction."

"So," Yuna smiled, "Did you invite us here for the dig in the desert, or for that Capsule that we found under Bevelle?"

"The Capsule," Rikku clarified with her latest project, "There has been a development with it since you were last here. The desert dig is suspended due to a sandstorm though."

"I hope it's not serious?" Yuna's natural concern for others surfaced.

"No, no, it's a small storm, so the only problem it's causing it a loss of visibility."

"So, what's happened with the Capsule?"

Rikku's grin could have lit up the central room of the former Besaid Temple in response to Yuna's question. She practically skipped ahead before stopping in front of a door that looked identical to the others they had passed.

"See for yourself."

"This is what you found close to Vegnagun?" Tidus queried.

"Yes, in a room close to Vegnagun's Chamber," Yuna explained as they entered Rikku's workshop hanging her cloak onto a wall hook, "While you were at the last Blitzball Tournament in Luca, the three of us were working on remapping the Bevelle Underground, since Baralai believes that everyone should know of it now.."

"Why the three of you?"

"Apparently, we are trusted by all, and can be seen as neutral."

"And you can certainly take care of yourselves."

"Glad you agree." Rikku grinned.

"So we found this and brought it back here for examination." Yuna concluded.

"Why here? Wouldn't Djose Temple have been closer?"

A sudden dark glare from Rikku made Tidus drop that question.

As the lights flickered on in the workshop, Yuna's eyes were drawn to the Capsule, and she instantly spotted what had changed about it since her last visit.

"You got her out?"

"Yeah, I managed to locate a switch that opened it and…"

Yuna followed Rikku's stare to Tidus' face, which had a rare expression on it: thoughtful.

"Tidus?"

"Sorry," He blinked a few times, "I was remembering a time when I had to be placed in a Medical Pod like that one."

"A what?" Rikku demanded.

"I think it's called a Medical Pod," Tidus shrugged, "They were used on injured people, often Blitz players, to monitor and record things like heart rate, breathing, pulse and so on. The more advanced ones could even dispense medicines to their occupants as a spray or injection."

He turned to Yuna:

"Did you say there was someone inside it?"

"Yes. A woman who appeared to be asleep. Maybe she's from Zanarkand?"

"We're not going to find out Yunie," Rikku sounded sad, "She wasn't asleep, or dead."

"I don't…"

"Come on, I'll show you." Rikku cut her off before leading them through to a smaller room linked to her workshop. Except for the small bed, there were no decorations of furniture in it.

Both Yuna and Tidus' eyes were drawn to the mass of silver hair that was spread across the pillow of the bed, and the slim body of a woman who appeared to be their own age underneath the dark green sheet.

"In her current state, she won't be able to tell anyone anything, although I understand why she was so heavy now."

Rikku reached for the sheet, and pulled enough of it away to reveal an arm and hand that had numerous holes in it.

"Yeah, that was my reaction," Rikku nodded at Yuna's gasp of shock, "Once she was out, I took a close look at her. I couldn't find a pulse or a heartbeat, so I took off one of the gloves she had on. This metal," she now lifted the hand up, "Seems to spread through her whole body, and I think it works like the bones would for humans."

"So she's not dead?"

"I don't know. It's like…"

"Like she is a mix of person and machine." A cool voice interrupted.

"Paine! Did you have to steal my punch line?" Rikku scolded as the taller woman entered the room.

"Hello Paine." Yuna greeted her friend, getting a polite nod in return.

"She's not a relative of yours is she?" Tidus asked Paine, earning him a slap on the back of the head from Yuna.

"No."

"I think she would be too old to be related to anyone," Rikku added, "As far as we can tell, the Capsule is even older than Vegnagun."

"What about the symbol?"

"No luck. Nothing in our remaining history records matches it."

"What symbol?" Tidus' question got a piece of paper handed to him.

"Brother may have his issues," Paine knowingly glanced at Yuna, who simply shrugged, "But he's a surprisingly good artist."

"Where's Skye?" Yuna asked, suddenly noticing the absence of Paine's business partner.

"She's trying to sleep. She's been having a lot of strange nightmares recently."

"Strange how?" Rikku asked, stretching herself out before she sat back on the side of the bed, covering the woman's arm again.

"She won't tell me everything," Paine shook her head; "The only thing she told me last time was that she had seen a woman with black wings surrounded by flame."

"Black wings?" Rikku frowned, seeing Tidus do the same, "Why would a person have wings? Yunie? Yunie!?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Yuna blushed as she realised she had been spoken to, "But that sounds familiar."

"Hey guys," Tidus called, "Didn't you say that New Yevon were sharing their history records now?"

"Yes, why?"

"There's something really familiar about this symbol," He turned the paper around to show the black and white symbol, surrounded by four blades that were at equal distance from each other, "And I think it might have something to do with Zanarkand History."

"Maybe you two should go to the Bevelle Library then," Paine suggested, "Since you both seem to know something about what we're dealing with."

"I'll contact Baralai," Yuna nodded, "And ask him if he can assist."

"I'm sure he will; you're still High Summoner remember?"

"Would you mind giving us a lift to Bevelle?" Yuna looked back to Paine after a look from Tidus told her that he also wanted to investigate this.

"Of course not. And I don't charge friends."

"Thank you," Yuna allowed Tidus to pull her to her feet, "Are you coming Rikku?"

"No. I'll stay here and see if I can figure out anything else about Machina Lady here. Maybe her skin will tell me something, as I don't think it's natural. Our skin wouldn't be able to have holes in it like that."

"Ok, good luck then, use the comm. sphere if you need to contact us."

"Yeah, good luck Yunie."


	5. Chapter 5: Investigations

Chapter Five: Investigations

Bevelle's Public Library was used by dozens of people every day, and there were various research requests that had to be done as an appointment due to the limited capacity of the building it was located in. En route from Home, Yuna had contacted Baralai using a comm. sphere and obtained immediate access from him as he still felt that he owed "Lady Yuna" a debt, so Tidus and herself could jump the long waiting lists.

Yuna didn't like using her High Summoner title for personal use, but she was willing to make an exception for family & friends.

As she ran her finger along a row of book spines in the "Pre-Sin History" section, Yuna realised that Rikku's comment about her being High Summoner wasn't meant as a jest.

"There's not much around from Before Sin." Tidus commented, picking one of the black bound books at random.

"No," Yuna agreed with her husband, "And I think Trema is the main reason for that. But, what he wasn't able to destroy seems to be well cared for. These books all look brand new."

"They probably are. Original books in Zanarkand Libraries were rare, and often locked away in airtight vaults. Mass produced copies of the originals were then made for the libraries."

"That makes sense," Yuna picked a neighbouring book from the same shelf, "What are you looking for from Zanarkand?"

"History, either general or…political. You?"

"Yevon History," She held back a giggle at the look on his face, "What Paine said about Skye's nightmare has been bugging me. I'm sure the Yevon Scriptures I read during my training in Besaid contained something like that."

"A woman with black wings? Surrounded by flame?" Tidus questioned, making sure he had heard correctly, "And she couldn't have been a fiend in human form? Or an Unsent?"

"I don't think so. It had something to do with magical talent."

"Would Issaru know?"

"Maybe, but I don't want to bother him for now."

Tidus nodded in understanding, since their last encounter with him had resulted in accidental injuries. Issaru had accepted their apology, but had also looked upset and they had agreed to avoid him for the time being.

"Assuming it was true though," He pointed out, "How many of Yevon's "teachings" were proven to be false?"

"I suppose there's one way to find out." Yuna opened her book and started flipping through the pages. Tidus took the hint and did the same with his book.

* * *

"Excuse me, Lady Yuna?"

The soft spoken voice caused her to look up and place her book on the table. She blinked in surprise when she spotted the clock, and saw that it was mid-afternoon.

"May I ask if you have had any success in your search?"

"Not yet, no." Yuna replied to Baralai's question.

After acknowledging Tidus, and getting a small wave in return, he sat opposite her.

"What is it that you are searching for? Maybe I can assist you?"

"Will you keep this to yourself?"

"Of course, you have my word."

"A friend of ours is suffering from strange dreams, and something about one of them sounded familiar. She saw a woman with black wings, surrounded by flame, and another dream contained that symbol."

Tidus had slid the paper over to him, and he examined it.

"No, I'm sorry, that does not look familiar," He shook his head, "However, I do think I've heard of a woman with black wings, when I was training to be a Temple Acolyte."

"Really?" Yuna was surprised, while Tidus kept a straight face.

"Yes, excuse me for a moment."

He stood and moved into the Sphere Archive Section, causing Yuna to challenge Tidus:

"Could this be one of the truths about Yevon?"

"Wait and see if he brings anything back before you say that."

* * *

"Have you found anything?" The silver haired warrior asked.

"Not really. The skin sample is being examined, but all we can tell is that it is made of something that resembles plastic, but has the texture of smooth and healthy skin. It's clearly not natural."

"She isn't a natural human Rikku, so her "skin" not being natural shouldn't surprise you."

"Why are you back anyway? I thought you would have other passengers?"

"Only a few for today, the crew of the _Omega_ can handle those."

"Ok. Hey, while you're here, and being a sword expert, what do you make of this?"

Reaching out with a leather gloved hand; Paine took the sword that Rikku was holding out to her.

"Is this…hers?"

"Yep, I think so. It was next to her inside the Capsule when it was opened."

Paine pulled the slender, curved, blade from its sheath.

"It's pretty light, with good balance, unusual wrapping around the handle, and it also looks to be well cared for," She slid a thumb along the blade, "And very sharp! While it looks delicate, it would be deadly in combat."

"It reminds me of the swords Auron used to use, although smaller." Rikku mentioned as she took the sheathed blade back.

"Possibly. So, she was a sword fighter?"

"And maybe a gunner too, as these were around her when we lifted her out."

Rikku now held up three white belts, two of which had adjustable holsters on them, and contained two pistols which were similar in style to the ones Yuna primarily used. The key difference was the lack of a 'wheel' at the back.

The third belt contained eight pouches with flaps covering the top, which were open, allowing her to see that they were empty.

Paine took one of the guns, aimed it, and then lowered it, looking closely at the markings on the handle. She could make out the words _Quicksilver's Saviour_ embedded into the metal.

"The ammo isn't like as what we use," Rikku said, taking the other gun, "But the basics seem to be similar."

Rikku pressed behind the trigger guard, and a thin slab of metal fell from the handle into her open palm. She looked into the slab, and then pulled out a single bullet.

"Her ammo is more compact, since there seems to be about 15 slots in these for bullets, that's quite a few shots. She also had eight more of these," She explained, holding up the slab of metal before she placed it back in again, "Which means she was carrying 150 bullets on her. She must have been prepared for a tough fight, as we _never_ carried that much between us."

Once it was back in, she aligned the metal slab with the gun handle, and pushed it back inside. After that had clicked into place, she pulled at the top casing, causing the whole assembly to slide backwards. Paine heard a click before Rikku released it and let it slide forwards again, looking as it had initially.

"That's loaded it, all I need to do now is flip this little switch here, and I could shoot. Otherwise, it seems to lock the upper casing."

"You've been firing them?"

"Yeah, they're easy to figure out, and remarkable pieces of machinery."

Rikku pressed below the trigger guard again, causing the slab to slide out, and Paine to relax a little, before placing both items onto the already cluttered table.

"It seems like she can use both a sword and a gun, which is impressive. If she is a machine though, could that knowledge simply have been recorded into her head, like with spheres?"

"Maybe, although I don't know how that can be done. I want to know where her energy comes from. If I can replace that, and provide her with energy, maybe she'll revive!"

"Do we want her to?" Paine's comment surprised Rikku, "As fascinating as she is machine wise, as a person we don't know anything about her. Who is she, where did she come from? How is she like that?"

Rikku attempted to answer, but Paine spoke so quickly that she didn't have a chance.

"For all we know Rikku," She concluded, "She could be a killer. That might explain why she was locked in that pod."

"Who might be a killer?" A gruff voice asked.

"Hiya pops," Rikku turned to the doorway, "How was your expedition?"

"Not bad, not bad," Cid replied, returning Paine's nod of greeting, "We were able to locate what appears to be an ancient prison building. Nothing of any real value in there though, although some of the equipment might be salvageable."

"Good to know. Any idea how old the building was?"

"Not a clue. Who were you sayin' might be a killer? I don't want anyone like that in Home!"

"Oh right. You know how the three of us have been re-mapping the Bevelle Underground?"

"Yeah, that crazy Praetor asked you to help out, right?"

"Yep. We found that Capsule near to the Chamber where Vegnagun used to be," Rikku pointed at it, "And there was someone inside. I've managed to open it, and get her out, but I'm unsure as to how to help her. Also, Dr P. is being the voice of caution, as usual."

Paine folded her arms and glared at Rikku:

"Someone has to be, you're too impetuous!"

"It's more fun!"

"It's more dangerous."

Cid had looked over the pod while Rikku and Paine had their little 'chat', and cleared his throat to get their attention again:

"So, why can't you help whoever was inside it?"

"Step this way pops and you'll get a real shock."

Cid followed his daughter through to the little room next to her workshop, and immediately saw the occupant.

"Ok, she looks fine to me, why can't you help her?" He repeated.

As she had with Yuna and Tidus, Rikku peeled the sheet back from the silver haired woman's arm, and then wished she could have captured her dad's face on sphere.

"Interestin'. Rikku, do you remember that message device you found last year?"

"Of course, it's in my workshop." Rikku lazily pointed back towards it.

"Ok, ok, I'm not lookin' for it back! The expedition found another one, which was what lead us to the prison building."

Paine, still stood in the doorway, had to roll her eyes at Rikku's predictable response.

"Really? Let me see, let me see!"

"Hold yer chocobo's girl, I was goin' to show you anyway."

Rikku eagerly took the device that Cid held out to her, and activated it. Both Rikku and Paine saw the almost familiar features of the woman in the message, as well as her attire being similar to what she herself usually wore.

"_My name isn't important, but if you are viewing this message, then you may be able to help a friend of mine. Due to complications with her life, she had to be placed in a containment capsule which drastically slowed her aging. If you can find Sonnet, please help her. She was contained in a place that I know as the D-District Prison, which is about half a mile from here, and mostly underground. We placed her in the third level down from the top, in Cell D7. We did this in the hope that technology would eventually improve enough for a solution to be found to her problem, which we have left information on in the same cell that she is contained in."_

"_Please, if you can find her, help her. She deserves to be free, and to live her own life."_

As the blue tinted light faded, Rikku carried it into her workshop and returned after a few clattering sounds were heard.

"This is the one that we found about six weeks ago," She explained for Paine's benefit, "Before we were asked to map the Underground."

Once again, a blue light shined out of the device, and a blonde woman appeared:

"_I make this request on behalf of a friend who has had…complications with her life. In the hope that technology can eventually help her, we have placed her in a containment capsule in the nearby underground prison building. This capsule will reduce her aging so that she may live long enough to be rescued."_

"_I doubt that this will happen in my lifetime, but there is always hope. If you can find my friend, please help her. She deserves the chance to live a normal life."_

"Both are phrased in a very similar way." Paine noted.

"Yeah," Rikku turned to the bed, "Could this be the "Sonnet" that the newer message mentioned?"

"She may be, but I have to agree with Paine," Cid spoke up, "Those messages give more questions than answers. And by the way, the cell she mentioned was empty. I don't think anythin' had ever been in there. If she was supposed to be in that prison building, how did she get to Bevelle?"

"And 'Why was she contained underground?'" Paine said, recalling their discussion before Cid had entered.

"Right, yer sharp girl." Cid folded his arms, looking sternly at Rikku, and knowing it would have no effect on her. His daughter could be very obstinate when it suited her.

"Ok, so she may be dangerous. But if so, why are they so passionate about helping her?" Rikku added her opinion, "What if why she was contained in a prison was beyond her control? The message did mention complications."

She turned to Cid, even though they had their differences, he was still her father, and the leader of the Al Bhed.

"Ok, say I can figure out how to give her a fresh supply of energy. If I can set that up to run automatically, she can be reactivated in one of the holding cells we have, without her weapons, then if she does turn out to be dangerous, she'll be contained again."

Paine was mildly impressed at Rikku's thoughtful, if headstrong, suggestion. The perky Al Bhed liked to appear as carefree, but she did think things through sometimes. She decided not to point this out, and instead offered:

"I'll contact Yuna in the morning and see if their search has had any success."

"What time is it?" Rikku curiously asked.

"I arrived as the sun was setting."

"You're plannin' another all nighter?" Cid queried.

"You know me pops," Rikku turned to Paine, "You're welcome to stay overnight."

"Already arranged thanks. I claimed the room next to Skye's, since she'll probably get lost in here by herself. We'll call and see you before we leave in the morning."

"Goodnight then."

Rikku was then left with only the body of the Machina Lady for company. Moving to the side of the bed, she opened her eyelid again for a look at the dark blue iris, before deciding to take a closer look at her hair next; to see if that was natural. Given that the skin had turned out to be artificial, she wouldn't have been surprised if the hair had been the same.

"So, "Sonnet" appears to be your name," She said to the inanimate body, "It's a very nice name. Much better than "Machina Lady, as I'm sure you'll agree."

Whispering a silent apology, she plucked one of the strands from the head, reminding herself that this wasn't a human body.

"I bet you're not dangerous. Not anymore." She said in response to considered Paine and Cid's comments.


	6. Chapter 6: Mysteries

Chapter Six: Mysteries

_I can't even shower in peace!_ Asuka thought as a knock on her door made her put her hairbrush down next to the sink.

"Alicia?" She called, leaning around the bathroom doorframe.

Not hearing a reply, she padded to the door, feeling her feet sink into the dark green carpet, and opened it slightly.

"Miss Ikari?" A young girl with chocolate brown hair & eyes asked.

"Yes, can I help you?"

"I'm Mina, and may father asked me to give this to you."

Asuka took the envelope that was slid through the crack in the door, realising who the girl's father was from her eyes.

"Thank you."

The girl nodded and then left, allowing Asuka to shut her door again, securing the chain, and tossing the envelope onto her bed next to her clean clothes.

Ten minutes later, with her clothes changed and her hair dry, she knocked on the door to Morgan's room.

"Morning Asuka," Morgan surprised the redhead by calling her by name, "Do you ever wear any other colours?"

"Not with my hair," She ignored his smirk, and considered that they were not on duty now, so using names was acceptable, "Have you seen Alicia? I've been passed a message from our client."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," She checked no one was close enough to eavesdrop, and then quietly said: "Mission Complete."

"Really?"

"Sshhh!"

"Sorry," He said in a subdued tone, "But what about the other area?"

"According to the message…actually, let's find Alicia so I don't have to repeat this."

"I saw her walking towards the pool area earlier. Maybe she went for a walk?"

* * *

Alicia was indeed walking around the hotel's pool, and the attached gardens, when Asuka and Morgan located her.

"Hello Alicia," Asuka smiled, "I see you've made a friend."

She reached out to the caramel coloured cat that was lying on Alicia's shoulder, only to recoil when it hissed at her, jumped down, and scurried off.

"Yeah, she was following me around the hotel, and jumped onto my shoulder as I came outside. Maybe she belongs to the owners?"

"Maybe," Asuka was shocked by the cat's reaction to her, "Anyway, we've had a message from Marcus. We're relieved from our contract, and payment has been sent home."

"Why?" Alicia curiously asked.

Asuka took the note from her coat, and handed it to Alicia:

"_To my efficient researchers, your aid over the last two days is greatly appreciated. After you solved our first concern, the second one somehow took care of itself. As a result, we no longer require your services._

_I include payment for your time and effort, and I thank you on behalf of myself and my associates._

_Good luck with your future projects._

_Marcus Hargrove."_

"That's it? 'Thanks for your help, farewell.'?" Alicia asked sadly.

"It seems that way," Morgan sighed, as they headed back to the hotel "And that seems to be typical of our work these days."

"'Use as needed, then discard'?" Asuka summarised, getting a nod from both team mates, "Yep. We're in high supply and low demand right now. All three branches are having difficulty in that regard."

"And for a stupid reason," Alicia vehemently, "Just because two were or will be a bad thing for Gaia, doesn't mean that all will be."

"It's something of an irony though," Asuka added her view, "We were created to monitor them, and neutralise where necessary. Now, since the world doesn't trust them, our boss being married to one also means that the world no longer trusts us."

"It's a shame that she couldn't keep the secret indefinitely," Morgan added, "Since it was somehow revealed, we are all affected."

"Have you two heard about the no confidence vote?"

"Yeah, trying to force him out? It won't happen; he's too strong and mostly well-liked. If he leaves, it'll be on his terms."

"It wasn't her fault though. She didn't have a choice in accepting the power of the other Sorceress, but she has coped very well with them. If I suddenly found I had enough magical power to destroy a town I would probably be unable to control it and go mad from it. No matter who targets her, she refuses to use her power."

"Aoba had better stay in prison for a **long** time," Alicia spoke up, "My being a SeeD will have no bearing on what I will do to him if I see _ever_ see him again. He's a dead man after what he did to her."

"I didn't know you and Instructor Leonhart were such good friends?" Morgan's brow furrowed.

"Not her, although she does have my respect. We're talking about an old friend."

"Who?"

"Someone who I worked with before you joined the organisation. A good friend to both of us, until she died 5 years ago."

"Ok, what does the former Trabia Headmaster have to do with her death?"

"That is a story for another time, Morgan."

Asuka released the breath she had been holding, relieved that Alicia wasn't going to break their agreement regarding Sonnet.

"All I will say is that the official story to what happened in Garden 5 years ago isn't true. There are a few pieces missing from it."

"Ok."

"You said you like mysteries, so maybe you can put your mind to work on that for a while."

* * *

"Morgan, do you have that device that we found on the skeletal monster please?"

Alicia's call dragged his attention away from his window gazing, and caused him to look around the cabin. Asuka had her nose buried in a book, which appeared to be an autobiography, and Alicia was typing something into her pocket computer using the touch screen

"Yeah, sure. Here." He took it from his jacket pocket and placed it on the table where she had her computer and a few handwritten notes.

"Thank you."

"I doubt you'll find much. I didn't."

He had been examining it previous night as he had been unable to sleep. However, due to his skills with electronics being limited, he had only come up with one theory relating to it:

"But, I was wondering: could it be a signal receiver of some kind?"

"What makes you say that? And what kind of signal?"

"This face here," Morgan pointed to one of the six, "Has a small hole in this corner which is the same shape as the sockets on a computer which wireless aerials are connected to."

Morgan watched Alicia examine the face in question, while he observed the shape of her face. He could tell from her expression that she couldn't see the hole with her eyes, but located it using her hand.

"I can feel an indent, but not a hole."

"It's a hole, trust me."

"Ok, that's getting mentioned in the report."

"That's fine." Morgan now knew what she was typing on her computer. He sat down next to where he had placed his bag, and attempted to read the mystery novel he had bought the previous day. However, he was interrupted:

_Attention passengers. Our next stop is Balamb City: Central Station. Would all departing passengers please ensure that they have all of their belongings? Our next stop is Balamb City: Central Station. Thank you._

"I guess that's us." Alicia commented as she quickly packed up her computer, and joined them at the train exit, "What time are we due back at Garden?"

"I don't think we have a specific time for a debriefing," Asuka savoured the warm afternoon sunshine as the train departed again, "But I'll request one once we get back."

"Can you wait for about half an hour? There's something I'd like to take care of while I'm here, so I'll meet you back at Garden once I'm done?"

"That's fine," Asuka looked towards the City Gates, "I'll contact the Commander once you're back.

"Thanks Asuka, I'll see you both later."

Alicia headed towards the Shopping Centre as Asuka and Morgan left the City.

"Can we handle any monsters with just the two of us?"

"I think so," Asuka tried to reassure the nerves she could hear in Morgan's tone; "We can stay on the road if you're concerned."

He walked on ahead of her, his bow in one hand, an arrow in the other, not willing to take any chances even though he trusted his Captain's judgment. He also had to keep his mind occupied as he wasn't comfortable with what he had been thinking on the train journey.

He was relieved that they were able to take out the two Bite Bugs that attacked them with little difficulty, but both he and Asuka got a surprise when they reached the gates of Balamb Garden. Things had clearly escalated while they had been away.

"This goes beyond complaints in magazines and newspapers." Morgan was sure Asuka's eyes were glowing as they stared at the multicoloured graffiti scrawled across the outer walls, almost as if she wanted to burn it off with an angry glare.

Looking at the words himself, Morgan could understand why they had been painted there. "Death to the Sorceress!" or "Kill the Sorceress" seemed to be the most prominent two phrases.

"Property damage. I suppose it'll be riots next."

"Don't even joke about this!" Asuka whirled on Morgan, confirming the look in her eyes.

"I am not joking. It's natural progression. People fear what they can't understand and control," He swiped his access card through the reader, unlocking the gate, "And Instructor Leonhart isn't being controlled as far as the general public is concerned."

"She doesn't need to be controlled! She's never harmed anyone with her powers," Asuka checked that the gate was locked as Morgan signed himself back into the Garden, "She's only ever defended herself, and then without using her powers. On the few times she's used her powers, it is for healing, not destruction!"

"So you're not friends," Morgan stated as she signed herself in, "But you trust her a lot?"

"Yes, she has given me no reason not to. Plus I still owe her an old favour."

Asuka had long suspected that the Instructor had spoken out in her defence 5 years ago, saving her from being thrown out of SeeD, even though Asuka had threatened her in her grief over the death of her friends.

"Should we do the write up now?" Morgan held out a small memory chip as they approached the Directory.

"If you like, I'll go and notify Admin that we would like a debriefing, and Alicia can review it afterwards."

"Ok. Meet you in the Cafeteria?"

"Fine." Asuka pressed the lift call button, as Morgan headed away.

* * *

Morgan had retrieved his own pocket computer from his room and made his own copy of the report from Alicia's memory chip. He now had a partially eaten burger next to him as he added his own observations and comments. He looked up as someone sat opposite him without asking, and then closed his mouth when he realised who it was.

"Stop staring."

"Sorry," Morgan looked to his computer screen, ignoring how Alicia's face flashed through his mind again, "But I've never seen you with your hair free before. You look very nice."

"I don't often get the chance, as this is usually impractical," Asuka brushed off Morgan's compliment, "Anyway, we are due a debrief at 14:00, so don't take too long in eating."

"What about Alicia?"

"I called her infolink; she'll be back in time. Have you got that device you found?"

"Yes. Don't worry Captain, I'll bring it along."

"Good," She took a drink from her coffee cup, "So how far did you get with the report before my hair and I interrupted you?"

"Almost done. Alicia did most of it already, so I'm adding my observations. I take it you will do the same?"

"I was planning to. May I?"

As she read through the report, Morgan finished his meal and took his tray to the carousel, before sitting back down with a fresh drink.

"You know Captain," Morgan took another look at her red hair flowing over her shoulders and down her back and mentally picturing blonde hair instead; "You're not like some of the rumours make you out to be."

"Meaning?"

Morgan regretted his words as he was fixed by an icy cold stare, in complete contrast to the colour of her hair. However, he didn't get a chance to reply.

"Let me guess: cold, heartless, not caring for others, only focuses on her mission…am I right?"

"Yes actually…"

"I've been a Squad Captain for nearly 3 years now Morgan, it's not hard to learn what other Captains and SeeDs think about me."

"Some of it is true," Asuka continued after another mouthful of coffee, "I DO get focussed on missions, but I AM NOT uncaring to my teammates, or any people I work with. After all, we rely on each other to stay alive during combat. Striking out alone would often be suicidal, not to mention treasonous."

Morgan added another comment to the report draft as Asuka ate a few bites of her pie, before she spoke again:

"Since you mentioned them, you must have known about some of these rumours about me when you applied for Squad Seven, yet you still applied?"

"Yes. Squad Seven had a lot of good references and has had a good variety of missions, although very few requiring computer skills. I thought I could fill the gap with my average computer skills, and I wanted to see if the rumours about Captain Asuka Soryu-Ikari were true or not."

"And your verdict?"

"I can't really say after only two missions, but I do feel stupid that it took me until after our first mission to figure out where your nickname came from."

"Fair enough, I'll ask you again after a few more missions. And as for "Firebrand", I would have thought that was obvious."

"It is now," Morgan conceded, "But I was observing your attitude more than your appearance. And I have to say that you're not very temperamental, despite the rumours."

"I can be, but it takes a lot to push me that far."

**[Asuka, Morgan, I've just entered Garden. I'll meet you at the Directory]**

**[Confirmed Alicia.]** Morgan replied on his infolink after getting a nod from Asuka.

"That was fast. I thought it was much earlier than 14:00." Morgan glanced at his watch.

"I knew. And the draft report looks fine to me. Alicia has done her usual standard of report, which leaves the next one to you Morgan. I'll add my observations after the debriefing." Asuka collected her tray as she stood up.

"That's fine. It's a touch screen, so you can write onto it if you want to."

"Good." Asuka hastily tied her hair into a plait using a wristband as they walked anticlockwise around the curving Garden corridor to the Hub.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Morgan queried as they passed the Infirmary entrance.

"Not now. We've got work to do." Asuka was in her business mode.

Upon reaching the Directory, they noticed that Alicia wasn't the only person waiting for the lift.

"Hello Commander." Asuka nodded towards the other blonde who had been talking with Alicia.

"Captain Ikari," Commander Trepe nodded back, "Is Squad Seven going for a debriefing?"

"Yes ma'am, although there isn't much to report."

"Very well. I need to speak with Squall first, so you'll need to wait for a few minutes."

"Understood."

All four entered the lift, and Asuka could feel Morgan's wandering gaze, although he wasn't focussed on her. She glanced at him in her peripheral vision, and he seemed to be looking in Alicia's direction. As they left the lift on the Garden's top floor, Asuka noticed why.

"Interesting hair cut Alicia," Asuka commented as Commander Trepe disappeared into the office.

"Thank you, I wanted to try a new style."

Instead of the long waves of hair reaching to the middle of her back, Alicia's hair was now only to her shoulders, and parted on the left side of her head.

"It's different," Morgan admitted, "Although I did like the dolphin tail that you had."

"That was nice," Alicia wistfully said as they sat down, "But it wasn't really suitable for our line of work."

* * *

"Thank you for your report Squad Seven. I expect the written one by this time tomorrow, and we will keep you posted if anything is learned about those devices you found."

"Miss Paige, could you remain behind for a few minutes? Miss Ikari and Mr Darkwood, you're dismissed."

Alicia ignored the surprised looks from her friends at the Commander's request.

"Is there a problem sir?"

"No, no problem. I wanted to inform you that Zell, Selphie and I have been examining your suggestion regarding Fallback. There are habitation sections there, which could be set up for short term occupation should the need arise."

"I'm glad to hear that ma'am," Blue eyes met blue eyes, "But with all due respect, why are you telling me? Wouldn't it be better if I knew as little as possible?"

"It was your suggestion Miss Paige," She now turned to face Commander Leonhart, "Although I won't ask how you even knew of the site, as most people have never heard of it, I thought you should know the results. Also, I would like to ask for your support in this plan, since you already know the basics and you are a skilled fighter, so you would be valuable to us."

"Don't answer now," Commander Trepe held out a wax sealed folder, "Read this first and then decide."

"This isn't an order Miss Paige, it is a request. Don't look at it as loyalty to SeeD, as it won't be. It needs to be your personal choice at the end of the day."

"I understand," Alicia took the envelope, "Anything else sir?"

* * *

Alicia was surprised that she had made it back to her dorm without any interruptions, barring the headache that had been pounding away at her skull for over an hour. She took a couple of painkillers, before flopping face first onto her bed, the envelope getting thrown in the general direction of her desk. As soon as her face hit the duvet, she heard Asuka's voice in her inner ear.

**[Alicia, are you able to talk?]**

"Receive," She sighed as she instructed the infolink and abandoned her plan to nap, "Where are you?"

**[In the Library. We were hoping to complete the report before tonight, so that we don't need to worry about it tomorrow.]**

"Ok," She sighed, "I'll be there in a minute or two."

**[I don't think it will take long,]** the conversation continued as she moved through the corridors, **[All you need to do is read through it and sign it.]**

Alicia reached the Library doors as Morgan explained the minor task. Asuka's red hair was easy to use as a beacon, so she headed that way.

"Hi!" Asuka kicked out a chair, which Alicia gratefully took, "I've read your report, and I'm happy with it. I've added my observations of my own, and Morgan has done the same. We're happy with it, so if you also are, we can wrap up this mission."

_Finally!_ Alicia thought as she transmitted the completed report to Squad Seven's section of the Garden mainframe, and reclaimed her computer from Morgan. He then disappeared into the Library, saying he wanted to go and research something, and Asuka also excused herself, saying she was going to the Balamb Leisure Centre for a swim.

Her computer beeped, receiving an electronic confirmation as she approached her dorm again. This time, she intended to rest. Dr Young was due to examine her in the morning, to find out if there was more to these frequent headaches than just exhaustion and/or stress. She didn't even bother to remove her shoes as she saw her bed; she just flopped face down, and was asleep within minutes.


	7. Chapter 7: Developments

AN: I can't believe I forgot this in earlier chapters so:

**Disclaimer: I don't own the **_**Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2**_** characters, or **_**Neon Genesis Evangelion**_** characters, I'm simply borrowing them for the story. Thank you.**

Chapter Seven: Developments

Rikku had stayed up for most of the night, stopping only to get something to eat and then a quick nap in her own room for a couple of hours, and then returning to the Machina Lady in her workshop. The few tests she had asked to be done on the hair sample had yielded similar results to the skin sample. Somehow, it had been modified so that it wasn't natural hair anymore; it had a few traces of artificial materials like plastic and yet still managed to appear natural.

Around mid morning, she had been greeted by an unexpected visitor: Skye had located her and asked if she could help out while she was staying in Home, earning her keep.

According to Paine, Skye had a knack for machina, even though she didn't use it very often. Knowing this, Rikku had tested her by asking her to fix a damaged radio comm. which required one of the wires to be replaced. During the few minutes while Skye determined this and changed the wire, Rikku mentally compared her appearance to that of the woman in the message that Cid had found. Amazed with herself that she hadn't noticed the striking similarity before, she was almost convinced that Skye _was _the woman in the message. However, two things made it clear to her that that wasn't possible. One was what Cid had told her regarding where and how his expedition had found the message device and the other was the voice. Skye was very soft-spoken, where as the woman in the message had a strong edge to her voice.

Rikku's final opinion was that Skye was descended from the woman in the message.

"How well did you sleep?" Rikku asked as she dug around her workshop, looking for a tool that she required.

"Pretty well, thank you. For such a barren looking Home, you have great beds."

"Good," Rikku owned up, "As I think Paine was concerned about your lack of sleep. But, then again, it's hard to tell what Paine is thinking or feeling."

"She does have feelings, but she has buried them so deeply that they don't show often. Her past wasn't pleasant."

"The Crimson Squad?" Rikku continued past Skye's shocked look, "Yunie and I know about that, it came up during the Vegnagun Incident."

"I see. Rikku…Paine mentioned what you three had found under Bevelle…Could I see her? Please?"

Whilst surprised at her knowledge, Rikku took Skye through to the side room, where the Machina Lady's body was lying.

With a sharp eye, Skye looked over the Machina Lady, examining the exposed lower arm and shoulder, and even opened her blue eyes.

"Amazing, she IS both human and machine," Skye breathed in awe, "Did she have anything to do with Vegnagun?"

"What makes you say that?" Rikku peered curiously at Skye.

"She was found near to Vegnagun, in a capsule with a symbol on it."

"Yes, the Capsule is back there. Tidus thinks it has something to do with Zanarkand."

"Was the symbol a curved black blade pointing up, with a matching white blade pointing down, one like a number 6 and the other like a number 9? Both blades were surrounded by a curved diamond shape which had four other blades over it, and those blades pointed North, East, South and West?"

Rikku could have been knocked to the floor by a cool breeze, as Skye had flawlessly described the symbol on the Medical Pod.

"How did you know that?"

"I…I'm not sure. I feel like I've seen it before, along with her," Skye indicated the Machina Lady, "And I know that her name is Sonnet, and that she once worked with a man called Laguna, who was trying to rescue someone close to him."

_That matches with the message!_ Rikku realised, while curious as to how Skye knew what she knew.

"Come with me," She made a decision, "There's something you should see."

* * *

After replaying Cid's discovery, Skye was the one who could have been knocked over by a cool breeze.

"She might as well have been me. I can't see any differences."

"Other than the voice. Hey, maybe she's one of your ancient ancestors!"

"Maybe, not that I'll ever know."

Rikku instantly felt guilty, recognising Skye's tone as one she had heard from many people, including Al Bhed, before the Eternal Calm had begun. A tone of someone who had lost her parents to Sin.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, no," Skye sniffled, "its fine, an easy slip to make."

"So, what do you make of this device then?" Rikku tried to change the subject.

"It appears to be very sophisticated, and built to last. It could be as old as the Zanarkand Ruins."

"That seems likely. If the messages are referring to her, since we found her close to Vegnagun, as you know."

"I'm thinking that she might be older than Zanarkand, Bevelle, or even Sin."

"Why?"

"It's a hunch, and I get the impression that the devices were designed so that they would last for a long time in any conditions. Look at the two Airships that you Al Bhed have found. They are at least as old as Zanarkand, and they still work. Why not these devices as well?"

"That is an interesting theory Skye," Yuna and Tidus slipped into the room, "And you may be correct."

"Hello Yuna, Tidus, nice to see you again." Skye greeted, remembering Yuna's preference to her name, rather than her title.

"We've found what that symbol belonged to," Tidus waved at Skye, "It was the symbol for Central Esthar."

"What's Esthar? And how long have you been listening to us?"

"Since you mentioned Vegnagun," Yuna quickly answered, "And according to our research, Zanarkand was once Esthar. It used to be split into three regions: Central Esthar, North Esthar and South Esthar. Each area had its own Governor, but a President led the city as a whole, and these Governors regularly reported to the President."

"So she," Skye inclined her head in the direction of the Machina Lady, "Is from your past."

"Yeah, sort of," Tidus nodded, "Oh, we have something else that we would like you to see."

Yuna held out a sphere, which Skye took from her.

"Paine mentioned your dreams," Yuna apologetically explained, "And it sounded familiar to me. I found that in the Library, and got a copy made."

_**Within the wavy confines of the sphere, an image formed of a tall woman with long silver hair which was evenly split down both sides of her head until it reached her waist. Her face was round, but her expression was cold and uncaring, reinforced by cold yellow eyes. She was clad in a long dark red gown with a black hemline that trailed along the floor, dark grey fur on the lapels and was only closed at her waist exposing a toned stomach. The sleeves of the gown were the same dark red until the wrists where they ended on light purple gloves that made her fingers like claws. Various tattoos could be seen on her skin, and her grey feet also resembled claws. On her head she wore a headpiece that made her look like she had silver horns with light purple tips. Finally and possibly her most distinctive feature: had long feathered wings on her back, starting as black, but becoming silver/white at the tips.**_

The sphere started to slide out of Skye's hand, but Rikku's arm shot out and caught it, before looking at the image.

"Scary! Who is she?"

"We don't know exactly," Yuna leaned on the wall, "But she was apparently a being of great magical power, known as a Sorceress, and she ruled Zanarkand for more than 80 years. Yevon was her deputy and her Magic Apprentice."

"What's a Magic Apprentice?" Rikku was stunned.

"Due to her magic power Yevon learned a lot of his skills and spells from her," Tidus continued the narrative, "The wings are the sign of a Sorceress, although there wasn't anything in the Library that said she could actually fly, which would be cool. Yevon took her place as the leader of Zanarkand when she was killed, and temporarily made a government that was controlled by the people, rather than by a single leader."

"How was she killed?" Skye wondered, "I doubt if someone was so powerful in magic could simply be "killed"."

"All we could find was that she left the Zanarkand Palace for a few days, and returned to her private castle. When she didn't return, he went to look for her and found her slain in her Throne Room. When he checked something called 'Security Material' later on, he observed a group of people moving through the castle, and meeting at the Throne Room entrance."

"Based on this, Zanarkand later accused Bevelle of sending those people to kill her, which Bevelle denied," Tidus took over again, "We've seen a copy of the apparent material, although Baralai doesn't know how Bevelle has it, and it's hard to really make out any details. All that we can tell for sure is that there are six people moving around and meeting up at the Throne Room."

"No other details?"

"No, the record is barely intact after so long. Apparently we were lucky to be able to see what we did."

"We were considering locating Maechen to see if he could offer any insight, but we can't locate him."

"Why not?"

"He's always moving around, so Baralai offered to put the word out that we want to speak with him."

"The Praetor, he gave you this?" Skye held up the sphere.

"Yes, he was very helpful."

"I take it Paine only dropped you at Bevelle then?"

"That's right," Yuna grinned, "And I think I know what you are going to say. She's avoiding him."

"She's running from the inevitable," Rikku chipped in, "But she also won't talk to us about how she feels, so it'll just take longer to catch up to her."

"Have you found anything new?"

"Not really Tidus, although pops relayed news about Desert Excavation. The storm has passed and digging has continued. So far they've found a portion of something that looks like crystal. But it's a lot stronger than any crystal we know of; we can't even break off a piece for testing."

"Don't forget the other message that he brought Rikku."

"Oh yeah! Pops found another one of those devices which lead him to an ancient prison building." Rikku shot out of her seat, and placed the device there, before activating it.

_"My name isn't important, but if you are viewing this message, then you may be able to help a friend of mine. Due to complications with her life, she had to be placed in a containment capsule which drastically slowed her aging. If you can find Sonnet, please help her. She was contained in a place that I know as the D-District Prison, which is about half a mile from here, and mostly underground. We placed her in the third level down from the top, in Cell D7. We did this in the hope that technology would eventually improve enough for a solution to be found to her problem, which we have left information on in the same cell that she is contained in."_

_"Please, if you can find her, help her. She deserves to be free, and to live her own life."_

As the image woman faded, Yuna looked over to the Machina Lady, seeing Rikku's smile:

"Sonnet…that's a lovely name."

"Can I see that please?" Tidus asked, prompting Rikku to hand it to him and watch him tap it, shake it and then smile.

"What?"

"There's something else inside it, at least, I think there is."

"Because…?"

He shook it, and this time everyone heard the resulting rattling sound.

"Now, how to open it?"

Tidus then spent the next couple of minutes tapping and sliding his fingers around the device, but not having any luck, and sheepishly passing it to Yuna.

"You have good hearing for someone who spends most of his time underwater." Skye whispered to him.

"Thanks, I think."

Yuna repeated most of his actions, before placing it next to her ear and shaking it, and then repositioning it and sliding her fingers into one of the recesses on the side. To her surprise, it slid away revealing a small hollow compartment underneath, and a slim metal cylinder fell into her open palm.

"What is it?" Rikku was trying not to jump up and take it herself.

The cylinder looked very similar to the vials that they kept poison antidotes in. After gently shaking it and hearing nothing, Yuna removed the cap, and tipped it upside down, causing a thin roll of paper to fall from it. She gently unrolled the paper and read it before holding it out to Rikku.

"I think it is meant for you."

Rikku's eyes narrowed as she read out the small and elegant handwriting:

Her energy comes from her heart.

Skye was looking at "Sonnet's" body, and realised that the note was linked to her.

"It must have been left by the people who left those devices," She mused, gaining the attention of everyone else in the room, "Both messages contain a request for help for "Sonnet", which we believe to be her, and the note is more information as she clearly needs special help."

"No one in Spira would know how to fix a machina-human," Tidus agreed, frowning, "Could both messages be played again?"

"What for?"

"I want to watch them again, and see if I can see anything else that might help us to help her."

"A code in the message?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"All right, take them into my workshop and watch them there."

"Thanks Rikku."

* * *

"Yunie," Rikku looked concerned, "I'm not sure that trying to help her is a good idea."

"Why not?"

"I didn't show you before you went to Bevelle, but I also took these out of the pod. They are probably hers," Rikku passed Yuna the guns, and then the sword, "And Paine said that she might be a killer, which pops overheard and it's also got me worried!"

"Isn't that extreme? She could just be skilled with both weapons, like those Dresspheres of yours allow you to do?"

"I did suggest a plan to pops for reviving her in a cell, where we can observe her, but he's not decided yet."

"Tell him we'll keep watch as well. That should convince him."

"Good idea. Thanks."

"I'm sure he'll agree to help as well," Yuna noticed Tidus approaching again, "Won't you dear?"

"What's up?"

Rikku repeated her idea for awakening "Sonnet" to which Tidus readily agreed.

"Sure! No prob! Like the messages say," He looked back at the bed, "She should be allowed to live for herself."

"Yes. I agree. Everyone has that right. We'll convince Uncle Cid to allow you to revive her."

"Yeah! Thanks Yunie!" Rikku beamed.

"I want to know how she got from this prison building that Cid found to Bevelle. From the messages, she was placed in the prison a long time ago, yet you found her in Bevelle, deep underground."

"Bevelle probably found her in the prison and freed her."

"It's a good guess, but if that's true," Skye asked, "How did she end up back inside the pod in the Underground?"

"We can ask her once she is revived." Yuna stated.

"I think she's definitely from Esthar." Tidus announced.

"Because…?"

"The woman in the second message seems to be wearing a uniform, and it has the symbol of Central Esthar on the collar."

"How old is this Esthar City?" Skye queried.

"We couldn't find that. But we do know it became Zanarkand, so at least 1,000 years old."

"At least," Skye was frowning now, "How well have the Zanarkand Ruins been explored?"

"Not very," Rikku beat Yuna to the answer, "Since Yevon considered it a 'holy place', only Summoners and Guardians could go."

"Anyone can go now though, right?" Tidus asked.

"Yep. Should we go and take a look around?"

"Of course. We might find a sphere or two! Or something to help her."

"Maybe…back in the Underground?" Yuna suggested, "We found her there, which makes me think that Bevelle helped her at some time in the past. Maybe that is how she got from the prison to Bevelle: they took her?"

"Could her energy have run out? Causing them to put her back into that Pod which she was placed in originally until they could restore her again?"

"Why would they forget about her though?" Skye once again used her logical method of thinking that made her and Paine such good business partners.

Rikku could only shrug in response to that.

"Maybe you should split up? Two to Bevelle and two to Zanarkand? Use your radios and keep in touch via the _Celsius_?"

"A good idea, but the _Celsius_ cannot reach two places that are so far apart. Besides, I would rather we stayed together as we work better that way." Yuna pointed out.

"I'll check with Wakka. I think the Aurochs can manage without me for a couple of days."

"I can manage the business for a few days too," Skye offered, "I'm sure Paine would want to rejoin the Gullwings."

"Are you coming?" She asked of Tidus as she headed to the workshop's door, "I'll call Paine and then you can call Wakka."

"Ok," He kissed Yuna, causing her to blush and Rikku to smile, "The comm. sphere is at the western entrance, right?"

"Yep. We'll meet you there in about 20 minutes."

Once they had left, Rikku grabbed Yuna's arm and looked into her eyes:

"You still don't want to let him out of your sight, do you?"

"No!" Yuna's blush returned, "Why would you say that?"

"Come on Yunie, I can see it on your face. He's been back for two years now, and you've been married for half of that. You should know that he's not going to disappear if you take your eyes off him!"

"I know that! But I like it when he is around. He makes me feel safe and warm."

"You almost sound like your Summoner self Yunie," Rikku couldn't keep a grin from her face, "But we both know you've grown beyond that."

"I know, I know," Yuna realised something, "And that is not really what you wanted to talk about is it?"

"Its part of it," Rikku sighed, "But I don't want you to repeat yourself again Yunie, please. I agree with you, but it is hard to keep in mind sometimes."

"Ok," Yuna respected her cousin's wishes, "But if you do want to talk…?"

"I understand. Thanks Yunie."

"I'm sure Lulu will be willing to listen as well," it was Yuna's turn to grin, "Vidina has been asking for his "Auntie Rikky"."

"He can say your name, but not mine," Rikku shook her head, "I think I need to visit them sometime, and help him with that."


	8. Chapter 8: Geofront Exploration

Chapter Eight: Geofront Exploration

"I can't believe this place! How can it work? Where does the air come from? How is the heat generated? I doubt chocobo's in wheels would do it…"

"Slow down Rikku," Paine cautioned the bubbly Al Bhed, "We're here to try and answer those questions."

"Yeah, and we need to explore everywhere to learn as much as we can!"

"So you found her in here?"

"Yep," Rikku answered Tidus standing at one point, her arms held out to her side, "The pod was here in this direction, across from the door."

"And yet this room appears to be hidden for some reason. Any idea why Bevelle would do that?"

"No. I don't think she would have been in here if Yevon had known about her."

"Did you ever notice a control computer down here?"

"A what?" Even Rikku didn't recognise what he was talking about.

"A control computer, like what Shinra used for his comm. spheres before they were set up all over Spira."

"No, I don't think so."

"Not yet." Paine added.

"Zanarkand used to have thousands of them, both in public places, and private homes. All were linked to a central library system which allowed you to look up anything they had information on."

"So you're thinking that there might be information on the Machina Lady in one of these computers?"

"Or Esthar. I know it's a long shot," Tidus smiled at Paine's expression, "But it's an idea, right?"

"We are here to map the Underground as well." Yuna reminded them.

"Right, let's get started then. Where did you stop last time?"

"Here, as _someone_ couldn't leave her in that pod."

Tidus looked up and down the corridor outside the room.

"Huge place. Even in Zanarkand, I'm sure an underground city was considered impossible. Bevelle clearly thought otherwise."

"Did Zanarkand ever attempt this?"

"I don't think so Rikku, since the city was built on an ocean, unlike Bevelle."

"Does Baralai have any idea why this place was built? I don't think it was meant just to contain prisoners and hide Vegnagun, it's too big for that alone."

"Probably not, otherwise he would have told us when he asked us to map the place." Rikku pointed out, "I suspect it was built before the Machina War though, it just _feels_ old."

"Prisoners?"

"Yes, there are cells like the ones we were kept in before our trial on my Pilgrimage."

"Maybe it is meant for more," Rikku mused, "If it is as old as the Machina War and what you found about that Sorceress woman is true…what if it was meant as a place for the people of Bevelle to live in if they lost the War?"

"A refuge," Tidus supplied to the shocked expressions of the others, "That is what you call a place that you live in after you lose your home in a war."

"Yeah, maybe that was it!"

"How do you know that?"

Tidus shook his head:

"Pass. It was in my head as Rikku spoke just now, so I said it."

"Can we check out these cells please?" He said after looking around for a few minutes, "I get this feeling that there is a connection between Sonnet and Vegnagun."

They had agreed on the ride over to Bevelle that they would call her "Sonnet" unless they learned of another name.

"What about that Sorceress lady?"

"She was from Zanarkand." Paine reminded them.

"What if those apparent accusations by Zanarkand were right though: they sent people to kill her to start the War, knowing that they would easily win with her out of the way."

"Why are you thinking that?"

"We don't know the cause of the War, right?" Yuna nodded at Rikku's question, "And we don't know how powerful this Sorceress was. If Yevon was her Apprentice though, she must have been powerful, since he had the power to create and maintain Sin for 1,000 years."

Yuna looked thoughtful, while Paine looked stunned:

"You are more insightful than I gave you credit for."

"Thanks Paine!"

"Baralai did tell me that he did not know how the War started, and no mention of it was ever found in the Yevon records, so maybe Rikku is onto something."

"So you're suggesting that Bevelle sent a group of people to kill someone who could have been the most powerful mage in history to ensure their victory in a War against Zanarkand?"

"It's got possibilities." Rikku retorted.

"But how could someone kill such a powerful mage?" Paine turned to Yuna, "If her magical power was so great, I doubt anyone could kill her."

"Probably not," Yuna conceded after a little thought, as they also approached the cells, "During my Pilgrimage, Lulu's magical power could be scarily strong. Fiends would actually melt under her Fire type spells. It is possible that a Sorceress could have that kind of power all of the time."

"You had that skill too Yunie, your healing and protection spells saved our lives many times."

"So your strong White Magic power, and Lulu's strong Black Magic power, combined into one individual, and yet this person was still killed. I don't believe this Yuna," Paine continued, "It seems unlikely that any of this is true."

"So you think Baralai is lying to me? He has said that he owes us his life and me personally as High Summoner, so why would he lie?"

"Maybe he's not lying as such, but what he believes to be true could be Yevon misinformation, continued over hundreds of years and became true over time."

"Who knows? We can't travel through time, so we'll never know," Tidus cut in, "It is a good theory Rikku, but it's not complete."

"I guess so."

"Anyway, please pass me the paper; we need to draw the map from here to the cells."

"Why are you doing this?" Tidus suddenly asked, "Baralai seems to know his way around here just fine. Doesn't he have a map?"

"No, he was apparently shown around here, and the knowledge of its existence was passed from person to person in the Yevon ranks. There is no written trace of the Underground right now, which is why he asked us. Not only does he trust us, but he believes that we wouldn't side with any one group."

"Ah, ok then."

"Information for all, eh?" Paine smirked, "Pity we didn't think of that as the Gullwings, it would have made a nice slogan."

"The cells are this way?" Tidus quizzed, "You're not guiding us to that other Underground right?"

"Yes and no. We wouldn't do that."

* * *

"I don't understand how there can be so many fiends down here!" Tidus exclaimed as he sheathed Brotherhood, "Humans built this place, not fiends. How can they get in here?"

"Don't tell me you can't handle a few fiends," Paine balanced her sword on her right shoulder, "I thought you were a Guardian."

"I was and I can, but where are they coming from?"

"Maybe there's a link between here and the Via Infinito?" Yuna suggested, "Although some of them are Yevon Machina."

They were a couple of chambers away from the large room that held the rotating cells suspended on arms, as Rikku had pointed out that controls for cells probably wouldn't be in the same room as the cells themselves.

"Hey Tidus," Rikku called, waving her arms like crazy, "Is this what you wanted?"

The Blitzer jogged over to her, causing her to step aside and reveal a console similar to the ones on the _Celsius _bridge.

"Right on!" He grinned and high-fived Rikku, "Bevelle and Zanarkand clearly had a few things in common."

"Can you use it?" Paine asked, since Yuna and herself had left the machina to Shinra and the other Al Bhed while they were Gullwings.

"I think so. There should be a switch like on those message devices which turns it on. After that, I'll have to see what I can remember."

He carefully ran his hands along the top of the console, across the front, and down the sides, before smiling and pressing a small button on the left side of it. This caused a rumbling and whirring sound to emerge from it, making Yuna and Paine jump back, reaching for their weapons, before the screen fixed above the console lit up with a faint blue light.

"Oh come on!" Tidus hit the device in frustration as a notice flashed on the screen, and it died again, "Do you have any tools on you to open this thing?"

"Of course," Rikku reached into her leg pouch, "what am I looking for?"

"The battery appears to have died. Can you find it?"

Rikku winked at him, before she knelt next to the console and started looking for a way to get at its inner workings.

"What are you two up to?" Yuna queried, having not followed the conversation.

"It seems like it isn't powered by whatever machina powers this place, so that means it is powered by a battery. When Rikku finds it, we can recharge it and see if the console contains any information that we can use."

"Impressive, I didn't think you would know so much about machina."

"Not much," He admitted, "Just bits and pieces."

"Got it!" Rikku called, "The wiring around it looks fine to me, and it's quite deeply fitted, so it won't be easy to remove."

"No, leave it in. We can recharge it directly," He smiled at his wife, "Or you can, anyway."

"You will use any reason to see me use that, won't you?" Yuna returned his smile as she clipped her gun holsters closed.

"I've never heard you complain, and besides…"

His words were lost to Rikku and Paine as he whispered something into Yuna's ear, causing her to blush.

"That's a fair point. Ok, since you asked so nicely."

Taking her hands from her hips, Yuna pressed two of the spheres on her belt in succession. This action caused a white light to flow over her skin, changing her appearance as it passed down her form. Anyone with sharp eyes would be able to see her attire dissolve ahead of the light, and robes of black, blue and purple form behind it. Her old Nirvana staff materialised in her outstretched hand, and the wide brimmed purple hat covered her head.

"Ta daaa!" She twirled around as the transformation ended, "So where is this 'battery'"?

Hiding a smile at Rikku's clear influence on Yuna's behaviour, making her more spontaneous, Tidus indicated the thin rectangular object embedded within the computer.

"Don't overdo it Yunie."

Yuna nodded as she pointed her staff at the object, and cast a weak Thunder spell upon it. Her aim was sharp and true…but nothing happened.

"Try again," Tidus encouraged, noticing Paine keeping her eyes open for any fiends, but glancing in their direction every so often.

A second Thunder spell impacted the battery, and this time it slowly rumbled to life allowing the screen to stay on for more than a few seconds.

"Nice one Yunie!" Rikku complimented as she reverted back to her regular clothes and guns, "Now, let's see if we can find anything."

"Consoles like this should all be linked together. Anything on one should be viewable on all of them down here..."

"If there are any more."

For a second, Tidus thought Paine had spoken, but it was in fact Yuna who had made the cautious comment. He smiled slightly at her as Rikku moved in front of the machina. Given her strong talent for machina, it was no surprise that she was quickly pressing buttons, and moving things around on the screen.

"Did you say that Zanarkand had machina like this?" Yuna suddenly asked, realising where his knowledge may have come from.

"Yeah, although I didn't use them very often, so as I said I only know bits and pieces. One of the Abes players was very skilled with electronics though, and he showed me a couple of things: like the battery."

"Dream Zanarkand and Zanarkand must have shared more than appearance then."

"Yeah, I guess. I wonder if there's anything left on here after so long?"

"That depends what's of interest," Rikku quipped, "A lot of this looks to be prisoner information, written by prison staff."

Tidus and Yuna flanked Rikku, but were unable to read the fast moving information at the same rate as their Al Bhed friend.

"Fiends!" Paine's call diverted their attention away, leaving a transfixed Rikku, and assist her in neutralising the two Flan Blanco and two Vertigo.

Paine used her Flametongue skill on the Flans while Tidus cut up one Vertigo, and Yuna shot the other one to pieces.

"Not even a challenge." Paine stated, resting her sword on her shoulder again.

"Not really. Shall we change places?"

"No thanks Yuna."

Rikku had other ideas, as she suddenly called for Paine. Rolling her red eyes, she indicated for Tidus to switch places after all, and joined Rikku at the console.

"Look at this!" She pointed at one area of the screen.

"_Prisoner identified only as 'Quicksilver' has once again escaped confinement. Her abnormal strength and impeccable aim clearly aid her in this, her third escape attempt."_

"_She was located in the Weapon Chamber, apparently observing our Ultimate Weapon. In doing this, she revealed how she is so dangerous: she is part machine, and was attempting to 'feed' from the energy supply of our Weapon."_

"Interesting," Paine stated, "Could "Quicksilver" be Sonnet?"

"She could," Rikku grinned, "From the other things I've seen on here, there are from before the Machina War, as Zanarkand is mentioned. "An outdated city with its people clinging onto false traditions and a dictator in charge.""

"Summoners and Yevon?"

"I guess so. An amazing irony, wouldn't you say, given what the Final Summoning turned out to be."

Paine continued reading:

"_Quicksilver accepted a deal after learning that she couldn't 'feed' from our Weapon. In exchange for our scientists creating spare energy cells for her, based on a sample that she will provide, she will stay in the Underground and protect our Weapon from any who would seek to destroy it. With her support, it will be safe until we are able to use it against Zanarkand."_

"So, she was Guardian to an 'Ultimate Weapon'," Rikku stated the obvious, "How many of those has Bevelle had?"

"Vegnagun," Paine was surprised, "So how was Shuyin able to get access to it?"

"Maybe she wasn't there?"

"Yuna!" Paine called her away from a discussion with Tidus.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Are any of Lenne's memories still within your dressphere?"

"No, they departed with her and Shuyin to the Farplane. Why do you ask?"

"I'm curious. It seems like the lady from the pod was the Guardian of Vegnagun."

"She worked for Bevelle before the War?" Yuna's eyes were almost like saucers.

"It looks more as though she was coerced." Paine summarised what she had read.

"Ur cred!"

Now both women's eyes widened at Rikku's sudden language.

"Rikku, what…?"

She began reading from the screen again:

"_Against protests from some of the Parliament, Quicksilver was sent into Zanarkand in an attempt to eliminate its dictator and bring a swift end to this War. She has failed, but the War seems to have also ended after she reported of the simultaneous disappearance of __**all**__ of the residents around her, and the appearance of a huge fiend from within the floating castle that the former ruler resided in. A patrol returning from Gagazet also reports sightings of this fiend, and of Zanarkand's destruction."_

"And then this seems to be a year later." Rikku continued:

"_Since that creature appeared a year ago, a lot of large towns and cites have been completely destroyed, killing hundreds of thousands of people in the process. Nothing anywhere can fight it, much less destroy it. However, we seem to have been granted a gift, in the form of information provided by a woman who claims to be the daughter of the late dictator. She has shown us a way to temporarily defeat this creature, which she says is called "Sin", and will make the method available to any Summoner who can prove their worth by coming to her in the ruins of Zanarkand. While her method almost killed her, she did survive and has outlined a long term plan which will eventually stop it forever. Tomorrow, I relinquish my position as Chief of Palace Security for one of the new leadership positions for Spira. I will become a Maester. I will strive to ensure that this "Sin" is defeated within my lifetime."_

"That was a journal?" Yuna queried, once she got her voice back.

"It seems like it," Rikku replied, "Written by a prison official, although that last piece seems to be more personal than professional."

"So if that is true, she was sent from here to kill Yevon, but failed, and witnessed the birth of Sin. Incredible!"

"So "Quicksilver" does seem to be Sonnet, and she is over 1,000 years old," Yuna breathed, "That is amazing! If Rikku can get her working again, she could answer a lot of questions about the Lost History."

"She is probably older Yunie, remember the Esthar symbol?"

"Unless Bevelle kept one of those Pods around from somewhere, in case it came in handy," Tidus observed, having moved closer at some point to see what they were talking about, "We know they have done that with machina before."

"Is this "Lost History" that you mentioned the Pre Sin stuff that Trema destroyed?" He asked moments later.

"Yes. Imagine what we could learn from her if we could repair her!"

"Don't be too keen Yuna," Paine's voice cautioned, "She was clearly an assassin. She might not be safe to repair."

"You think so?" Tidus challenged, "I got a different vibe from what I heard you read. Bevelle convinced her to work for them in exchange for energy, as she was dying without it. That also sounds like they found her, rather than made her. If that is right then something in her past before Bevelle found her may have taught her how to use the guns and sword that you found with her. It doesn't automatically make her a killer."

Tidus then chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"When did you get so insightful?" Paine asked, possibly realising that he had a point.

"I have my moments." He was still scratching.

"Should we inform Baralai about this console?"

"Yeah, good idea Yunie. And let him know how to fix any other consoles down here."

"Why don't we see what else we can learn first?" Paine sensibly suggested, "Baralai would be more inclined to send others down here if we had more information to report."

"Now that I know what I'm looking for, I can fix any other consoles down here that we may find." Rikku observed.

"Should we continue on then?"

"Not yet," the pen and paper had reappeared in Yuna's hands at some point, "I want to write some of what is on there, in case it helps our Machina Lady."

Yuna then started writing in her elegant style, which caused Rikku to turn her focus to Paine.

"By the way Paine," she queried, remembering something that had bugged her the previous day, "Has Skye ever told you things that she shouldn't know?"

"Like what?"

"We were discussing the Machina Lady yesterday, and Skye called her "Sonnet" without thinking."

"So? "Sonnet" was a name mentioned in those messages."

"This was _before_ I showed her those," Rikku shook her head vigorously, "And then she said that she used to work with a man called Laguna."

"So? We agreed to call her Sonnet anyway."

"We did, but you're missing the point Tidus: how could Skye have known her name?"

"I don't know," Paine admitted, "She did seem to be very intuitive when we worked for the Machine Faction. She figured out how to fly our first Dragon Airship within a matter of minutes, but otherwise I haven't ever seen her know something that she shouldn't.

"Is it possible that she read the name "Sonnet" somewhere and simply gave it to the Machina Lady?"

"Not likely," Tidus chipped in, listening to them while looking out for fiends, "Where would she find it? The only place we've heard it is those messages. Even that journal didn't seem to contain her name. Quicksilver sounds more like a nickname, or something. Even the Library didn't contain anything. It was difficult enough to learn anything about Esthar."

"Maybe we should mention her to Baralai as well?"

"No!" Rikku was adamant, "We found her, and until she's restored I don't want anyone else knowing about her. She can make her own decisions about what to done once she is awake again."

"Ok, all done," Yuna called, as Tidus recovered from Rikku's outburst, "Let's head to the Vegnagun Chamber and see if we can't find any more computers on the way for you to use."

"Oh, what did I miss?" She asked at the looks on the others faces.

* * *

_AN: Regarding the dresspheres in _Final Fantasy X-2_: while they are a cool device in the game, I can't really see them as a usable device for this story. I can't see a way to make them work with the major events I have planned. So, for the most part, Yuna, Rikku, and Paine will be in their default jobs of Gunner, Thief, and Warrior, although with slightly modified outfits as described earlier. The dresspheres will be used occasionally for minor things, such as in this chapter._


	9. Chapter 9: Research & Revelations

Chapter Nine: Research & Revelations

Asuka opened her eyes and took in the clear blue of her surrounding environment while allowing herself to drift along serenely, until she had to surface for air. She still wasn't able to hold her breath for very long, but she was improving.

A glance around the pool area told her that Julian wasn't here yet. She would most likely have to practise alone. Smiling in satisfaction, as the practise would give her an advantage; she dived back under the water heading for the side.

She scowled as she surfaced, as a familiar voice reached her ears:

"I know I said that black suits you Red, but do you ever wear another colour?"

Julian's question was similar to Morgan's, which turned her scowl into a smile.

"Actually Julian, no, not very often," She poked him in the stomach as she sat next to him, "What kept you?"

"I was writing a report for my sergeant and ended up running late. You should understand how bureaucracy slows things down, Captain."

"Good thing you got here then, otherwise I would have had to tolerate practising alone," Asuka scratched her shoulder, "At least you didn't have to rely on your sister to remind you this time."

"How close are you to your target then?" He asked after a moment's silence.

"8 lengths."

"I'm down to 11, so hopefully that will be 6 after today. What are you aiming for?"

"Four or less," She slid into the pool after him, "Hopefully."

"Well, let's get started then," He gently rubbed her back as he gestured down the pool with his other hand, "Since I was delayed, I'll need to warm up, so ladies first."

She took his hand from her back and flicked his shoulder:

"Try not to stare too much." She cautioned before ducking under the water and swimming away.

"I wouldn't see anything new." Julian muttered to himself, before starting to swim after her.

* * *

"Ok, all done!" Dr Young's voice could be heard before the bed started to slide out of the circular CT scanner. Once there was enough room, Alicia sat up and stretched her arms over her head, causing her shoulders to crack.

"The scans will be ready in a few minutes," He informed her, "Although I should inform you that I could not see anything abnormal while it was running."

"Any ideas then Doctor?"

"Just one: based on the information you provided, it seems to me that you could be overexerting yourself. You said that you spend a lot of time in the gyms, or on the running track, so maybe you just need to scale back a little?"

"Maybe. I'm in decent shape though Doctor, and I would like to stay that way."

"From your physical results, that should be straightforward even if you cut out one of your sessions each week. You might be in great shape Alicia, but you are still human, and therefore have your limits."

A long tone sounded from the CT computer, causing Doctor Young to move towards it. As he studied the screen, a small frown crossed his face.

"You have an infolink, correct?"

"Yes."

"It looks like it was implanted correctly," He glanced at her medical file on a separate screen, "But now it seems to have moved slightly. It is very close to the vestibular system of your inner ear. As that controls your balance, the slight pressure that the device generates when used could be more pressure than your ears are used to handling."

"So that would cause my dizziness," Alicia realised, "What about the headaches though?"

"Yes, and those could be related to the extra pressure on your ear. Enough additional pressure over, say, a couple of days, could spread to your head via cranial nerves. I would like for you to return in a week, and I'll do another scan."

"Ok, should I book an appointment now?"

"Not yet. Wait until early next week if you please," He shook his head as he saved her results and appended them to her medical file, "I will have a better idea then of when the scanner will be available."

"Ok. Thanks Doc."

"You are welcome."

* * *

Alicia carried her jacket over her shoulder as she left the Infirmary, wondering if she had been overreacting as she headed for her dorm. She was hoping to read the file that Commander Trepe had given to her.

_Lousy weather!_ Asuka shook her head in annoyance as she reached the Security Gates and placed her ID card over the reader, _the one time I don't take a coat, and I experience Balamb's monsoon's!_

She felt like the rain had soaked her right down to her bones, and she could feel herself shivering too. Logically, she knew that it was far from a monsoon, but since it only rained in the latter half of the year in Galbadia, and then not in such volume, it felt like a monsoon to her.

Wiping her arms and face down as much as she could before entering the main Hub of the Garden, Asuka was reminded of her hunger by her stomach growling, but decided that a shower would be a better first move.

However, she decided on a compromise as she passed the Cafeteria on the way to the dorms: she ordered a meal for herself, intending to collect it after a shower. She also knocked on Alicia's door as she passed, to check how her check-up had gone, and smiled as the door opened after a few seconds.

"Hi Asuka," Alicia smiled back, "You know you're supposed to dry yourself after a swim, don't you?"

"Very funny. How is your health then?" She leaned on the doorframe once it had slid closed.

"I'm fine thanks, just a few headaches which seem to be down to overexertion."

"Good to know. If you have to relax a little more, maybe I have a chance at closing the stamina gap between us, and winning a race for once."

"Go ahead and try, but you'll be able to beat me in swimming races no matter what happens."

"True. We can't be skilled at everything."

"It's about time we had some rain around here," Alicia looked out of the window, "It's been too hot recently."

"I like hot."

"Of course you do! You're from a country that is always hot, and contains the world's second largest desert."

Asuka shuddered again, drawing Alicia's concern.

"You're freezing!" Alicia pointed to the door, "Get out of here and shower before you catch a cold."

"All right, I'll see you later."

She left, not seeing Alicia pick up the Operation Fallback file, slip her shoes on, and head for the Commander's Office to inform them of her decision.

* * *

Feeling much warmer and comfortable after her shower, Asuka was finishing getting dressed when she heard a knock on her door.

"Just a minute!" She called, flipping her long hair out from under her dark blue t-shirt, before opening the door, and feeling a little shocked at seeing who was on the other side: someone she hadn't really spoken to in the last five years, unless she had to.

"May I come in, Miss Ikari?"

Not trusting herself to remain polite, she stood aside and allowed the brunette to enter her dorm.

"You've tidied up since I was last in here," She folded her blue coated arms across her chest, "I hope this isn't a bad time?"

"Not really, but could you please keep this brief?"

"Of course. I know we've not really seen eye-to-eye since…"

"Don't bring that up." Asuka interrupted.

"…but I would like to request your help with some training. More to the point, I need a sparring partner so that I can learn how to defend myself using this."

She reached behind her and withdrew the katana from the horizontal scabbard that she was carrying inside her waist sash, and held it vertically in her right hand, with her left hand positioned behind the blade, fingers pointing towards the tip.

"Squall bought it for me a couple of months ago, suggesting that I should learn how to use a close range weapon as well as long range," She explained, spinning the sword around her wrist, "And I've been learning the basics from Instructor Ives. She claims that you are one of her finest students."

Asuka pulled her gaze away from the grey blade, and blue leather wrapped handle with rayskin grip.

"No offense Instructor, but I've been using the katana for much longer than a couple of months. You wouldn't be a match for me at present."

"None taken, and that's my point. If I fight you as well as learning from her, I should become more proficient with a blade much quicker."

"Can I see that?"

The sword was placed in her outstretched hand, allowing the redhead to test the weight and balance.

"It's very well made," She passed it back, "Ok, I'll spar with you and go easy for the first few sessions if you answer one question."

"Go on."

"Why do you want to learn a short ranged weapon? Can't you just use your Sorceress powers?"

"No I can't because they have been getting stronger and stronger every time I practise! If they become any stronger, I'll be able to wipe half of Balamb off the map with a wave of my hand," She slid back her sleeve, indicating an Odine Bangle on her wrist, "Therefore, the sword was suggested."

"I see. Ok, I'll meet you at Training Room D tomorrow morning, around 1100?"

"I look forward to it, and thank you, since I know you don't really trust me."

"I trust you, especially after that incident, I'm just not sure if I like you. But, we're both professional enough to put personal issues aside for this, I'm sure."

She smiled slightly as the sword was spun around her guests' wrist, held backwards, and then re-sheathed behind her, all in one fluid motion.

"Yes we are. By the way, next time you see Miss Paige, ask her to let you read the Fallback file. It may be of interest to you, and your support would be appreciated."

Her hand hovered over the door switch, and a grin crossed her face:

"By the way, that was two questions, so now you have no choice but to be my sparring partner."

As Instructor Leonhart left the dorm Asuka considered how she was carrying it: almost horizontally behind her, threading the sheath through a sash around her waist.

_An unusual method, but she didn't seem to have any trouble drawing it, so maybe it works for her._

The comment about the powers getting stronger worried Asuka, and briefly made her wonder if the Sorceress Resistance was right in insisting that the current Sorceress be Sealed away. However, Asuka believed that she wasn't a mad Sorceress, and shouldn't be treated as such unless she demonstrated that the power was affecting her mind. Her use of the Odine Bangle suggested that she was in control, for the time being.

_That could be a costly judge of confidence, if I'm wrong._ Asuka thought as she headed to the Cafeteria to collect her previously ordered food. As she paid for it and picked up her tray, she wondered what she had actually agreed to, and thought about how these sparring sessions could be fun, as Asuka outclassed most of the sword users in Garden. Instructor Ives was one of the three or four that she couldn't match.

* * *

Morgan added his latest book to the collection that was growing on his table in the Library, and then jotted down a couple of notes from the information he had previously read. Even with the vast range of books, as well as World Data Network access available at Balamb Garden, he was still having trouble finding information relating to those devices that they had submitted to Garden along with Squad Seven's recent mission report.

He had decided that they must have been assembled from equipment and components that could be bought almost anywhere, which made the purpose of them a mystery. Morgan had a theory or two, but he needed information to back up his thoughts, leading to his researching in the Library to try and determine if he was on to something.

_I knew I should have kept one of them!_ He thought as he took a catalogue for an electronics shop from the shelves next to the computers.

He was relying on memory for the appearance of the devices, which meant that he was unsure if he had correctly identified any of the components. The fibre optic cable and the mini computer battery were easy enough to identify, as he had used them numerous times since joining Garden, but the other wiring and the cube centrepiece were not familiar to him.

In an effort to aid his search and memory, he had sketched out what he could remember of the device's appearance. The cube had been drawn as six squares in a cross shape, as well as a full cube, and he marked one of the squares with the shape of a wireless aerial socket as several scattered dots suddenly connected in his mind.

_Damn! It's just a casing. There must be additional components inside it which I can't see or research, so this is pointless._

Deciding to see if he could get Analysis to relinquish one of the submitted devices back to him, or just waiting for their report if they refused, he replaced his accumulated books back on their shelves and pocketed his notes. He then moved over to the History Section, intending to continue his other research project concerning Sorceresses. He honestly believed that Instructor Leonhart wouldn't abuse her power as Adel had done, but he had been researching what little information was publically available to see how the power could affect those who inherited it.

Most of the information suggested that the nature and personality of the women who inherited the power was a factor in how the power affected them. His own experience however, coupled with Asuka's reassurance made him think that Instructor Leonhart truly wasn't a threat to the world.

However, the Sorceress Resistance clearly thought differently, as the recent news "interview" with one of their members: an unremarkable man with no apparent opinion of his own, and the graffiti on the outer walls of the Garden had shown.

As his eyes scanned the limited number of books available, he realised that none of the other Garden's had been hit by graffiti or threatened with attack, so maybe it was only Balamb Garden that was a target, as it was the home of the Leonharts.

Struck by a sudden desire to investigate, he left the Library and went looking for his team-mates. Alicia had come from Trabia Garden initially, and Asuka was Galbadian, so maybe they knew more about events at the other Gardens than he did.

"Targeting," He muttered feeling the tingle in his neck as his infolink microphone activated, "Asuka Ikari…dial."

He waited for a few seconds, until he heard a buzzing in his ear, indicating a connection:

"Captain, its Morgan. Can I talk to you for a few minutes please?"

**[Feel free Morgan. I'm in my dorm.]**

"Thank you, I'm on my way."

He knew which dorm was hers as each SeeD Squad had its own section of the Garden Mainframe containing member details, SeeD history, and dorm number.

"Captain?" He called as he knocked on the door to her room. Since she had said he could visit, he could safely go to the women's dorms without getting disciplined.

The door slid open to reveal her with her hair in a simple ponytail and with a cup in her hand.

"What did you want to talk about?" She was still being professional.

"It's the so called Sorceress Resistance," He noticed her coat on a hook next to the door as she moved back to her desk where he could see the remains of something with pastry, "I was wondering if they had attacked any of the other Gardens?"

"Not as far as I know, but why are you asking me? The Garden Newsletter should report things like that."

_Good point._ Morgan realised, as he hadn't thought about that.

"You're Galbadian, so I thought you might still know people at Galbadia Garden."

"I am, but I never went to Galbadia Garden. I started here when I applied for SeeD."

"Ok. Sorry to bother you then."

"Why are you asking?"

"That graffiti we saw on the way in," She nodded as she took a drink from her cup, "I was wondering if Balamb was the only Garden to be vandalised because this is where Mrs Leonhart lives?"

"I did wonder about that, but I don't know anything about what's happening at Galbadia Garden these days."

"OK, thank you Captain."

"What was the personal question that you wanted to ask me the other day?"

"Oh, right," He had to think for a minute, "On the way to the debriefing. I was wondering how you had a double surname, as not many people do."

"That is a personal question," She finally answered, "I'm adopted, as my birth parents and I didn't get on very well."

Morgan nodded and left when he realised that that was all she was going to tell him. Repeating his earlier actions, he dialled Alicia's infolink. Surprisingly, he heard the long tone that indicated her infolink was turned off, rather than on standby, as users rarely deactivated them. Morgan headed back into the dorms,

"Yes? Who is it?" Her voice called through the door.

"It's Morgan; can I talk to you Alicia?"

The door slid open, and she moved to the side with her usual grace. As she sat on her bed, Morgan had to focus on her face to keep his gaze from wandering to her long legs or firm stomach.

"I was wonder…" He suddenly realised how pale she looked, "Are you ok?"

"Yes thank you, I'm fine. What was it that you were wondering?"

"Do you still have any friends at Trabia Garden?"

"A few. Why do you want to know?"

"I assume you saw that graffiti at the gates?" She nodded, causing her hair to slide forwards, "I was wondering if any other Garden had been vandalised like that?"

"I don't know Morgan. To be honest, I've not spoke to my friends at Trabia for a few weeks now. Come to think of it, I'm surprised we've not seen it mentioned on the news, especially since the rain probably washed most of it away."

"The news services won't care, not since it became public knowledge that the Greatest Threat to the World lives here, even though her being a Sorceress doesn't mean we have another Adel living here."

"Headmaster Aoba wasn't fond of Sorceresses, which is probably why he released the news."

"Since you mentioned him, what did he do to upset you and the Captain so much?"

Alicia looked up, her face hard with pain and sorrow in her eyes, and looked as though she would just dismiss the question. To his surprise though, she gave him an answer:

"You'd best sit down Morgan. The answer to that question will take a while to explain, and change your perspective on a few things."

He sat on the desk chair that she had gestured to as she pulled her legs towards her and wrapped her arms around them. Again, Morgan had to concentrate on her face.

_She does have a great body though._

"You must keep what I am going to say to yourself," Her voice brought him out of thoughts that she would probably slap him for, "That isn't negotiable. This is a secret known to around a dozen people on the whole planet, including Asuka and myself. If this became public knowledge, it would cause a lot of problems.

"All right. I swear that I won't repeat any of what you tell me to anyone."

Alicia smiled slightly before deeply sighing:

"It will be good to be able to talk to someone new about this. See that photo?"

Morgan picked up the only photo that was in her dorm from the corner of her desk. He recognised two of the people in it immediately.

"So that's the Captain, and that's you, but who are the other two?"

"The brunette is Rei Ayanami, and the silver haired girl is Sonnet Baji. The four of us were all SeeDs five years ago."

"What happened to them?" He replaced the photo as he listened to her sad voice.

"They were killed, here in Balamb Garden, by Aoba."

"Wait," he interrupted, "I do remember hearing about a few people dying in Balamb Garden about 5 years ago: an electrical fault caused a fire that killed 8 people?"

"That's the official story, but not the truth. The truth would have had far reaching consequences and opportunities, and for safety, was concealed from the public. I'm going to tell you most of the missing pieces from the incident five years ago."

"Ok. So what truly happened?"

"Have you read any of _Esthar Science Monthly_?"

Morgan shook his head, surprised by the change of subject.

"A recent report in that magazine mentioned that Esthar is close to developing working nanite machines that could be used as healing aids for soldiers, as they can grow a synthetic skin over any cuts, burns or even skin gouges."

"That would be useful until bandages or Cure magic could be used."

"It would be, but nanites have existed before that did a similar thing. The research in that article is based on something that Sorceress Adel had created when she ruled Esthar."

"That was nearly 30 years ago then?"

"Correct. Around then, Adel commissioned a special project, codenamed as Project 2501, and developed by Dr Odine. Somewhere along the line, the Anti Adel Resistance learned of this project, and liberated it from her control. Project 2501 was a prototype for a super cyborg, one that would look human, and answer to no one while only obeying Adel: her private assassin. This cyborg was 'made' by transplanting the brain and spinal cord of a dying girl into a specially made cyborg body, one that incorporated all of Esthar's technological developments, including a synthetic skin that was made by nanites operating within the body. If the cyborg body was damaged, the nanites would work to repair it, and this included regenerating damaged skin. These nanites gave the cyborg a human appearance similar to that of the young girl who had been the "donor"."

"And this worked?" Morgan was amazed.

"Yes. The girl thought that she was going to be a test recipient of an experimental cancer treatment, which was killing her. What she got was probably worse than dying, for a short time anyway."

"What happened?"

"From the start, one of the staff on the project was part of the Resistance. He set up some sort of back door in the programming of the cyborg that could turn off Adel's control and also restore her human memories as well as her cyborg ones. Don't ask me how that worked, as I barely understand computers."

"This was done several times before Adel disappeared from Esthar. After that the scientist destroyed all control devices for this cyborg and then restored all of her memories one final time."

"It took her a few years to adjust to what she had been changed into against her will, and to understand her human and cyborg memories, but since she still had her human appearance, albeit artificially aged a little when the cyborg body was assembled, she adjusted eventually. The scientist who had aided the Resistance then adopted her, registering her as an Orphan of the Sorceress War, which also helped her recovery."

"The cyborg lived with the scientist for some time after the War, and eventually realised that she no longer aged, probably because her body was no longer organic. After the Second Sorceress War, she learned of SeeD and applied, wishing to live her life by her own terms and choices."

"So she was a SeeD? And how does Aoba fit into all of this?"

"I'm getting to that," Alicia relaxed her arms, and shifted to a cross-legged position on her bed, "His family had been killed by Adel's super cyborg due to apparent Resistance involvement, which caused him to hate Sorceresses."

"He would have hardly been alone during those times."

"True, but he took it to extremes. He somehow learned of Project 2501, who was now a SeeD Cadet, and also managed to rebuild the control technology. In what he believed to be poetic justice, her planned to use her to kill then Instructor Leonhart, and then monitor whoever gained her power until he could kill her too and also every Sorceress after her, so that he could control them."

"That doesn't make sense. It would only mean that the target would keep changing as the power of a Sorceress is eternal. Only the holder changes."

"Very observant. But I doubt he had considered that. Roughly 5 years ago he completed the control technology and managed to take control of her a few times as tests. He used her to kill any people who had a link to Project 2501, even if they were the descendants of the original people. Once they were out of the way, he targeted the Instructor while she was here in Balamb Garden."

"So the 'accident' that is the official story was really this cyborg being used by Aoba?"

"Correct again. She killed a few people inside Garden but then met resistance in the Hub as she headed for the central lift. There were three SeeDs in her way, one of whom she killed before the control failed, something called counter intrusion programming, which gave the two other SeeDs an opening to kill her."

"A fascinating story. I always thought there was more to the events than the official story."

"You don't believe me?"

"It seems a bit far-fetched, but not impossible given technology now," He looked at the photo again, "So either Rei or Sonnet was this cyborg then?"

"Yep."

"Which one?"

"I'm not telling you that," Alicia shook her head; "I promised her that I wouldn't reveal her condition or identity to anyone new. I intend to take that promise into my next life. Consider it a personal mystery for you to solve."

She said the last part with a wink.

"So you knew before Aoba took control?"

"Yes, I found out after an accident in a battle near to Trabia Garden, and promised her that I would keep the secret," Alicia grimaced, "Morgan would you pass me those painkillers please?"

"Headache?" He passed over the tablets and a cup of water.

"Yes. I've had a few in the last couple of months, probably due to not drinking enough in this heat."

Morgan studied the photograph, as Alicia took the tablets, wondering which of the two deceased SeeD members had been the super cyborg.

"Sorry Morgan, but would you go somewhere else please?"

"Of course," He scrambled from the chair to the door, "And don't worry, I will not repeat what you have just told me to anyone."

"Thank you."

Morgan turned and left, allowing Alicia to lock her door and fall backwards onto her bed, with her hands behind her head. She slowly allowed her blue-grey eyes to close.

_I hope these headaches pass soon._

_

* * *

She isn't here either!_ Asuka was getting frustrated by her lack of progress. For at least 20 minutes now she had been prowling around the Garden, looking for Instructor Leonhart. Her first port of call, her former Diplomatic Office, was locked and with curfew due to start in less than half an hour, she was starting to think that she wouldn't find her in time.

Since her secret had been revealed, and Asuka was convinced that Aoba had been the one to reveal it, she had been removed from the Diplomatic Office, and any other official work within Balamb Garden. A lot of people were concerned that if she became like Adel, she would do as Edea had done, and use a Garden as her base.

In truth Asuka wasn't sure what Instructor Leonhart did within Garden anymore. Her title of "Instructor" seemed to be a formality rather than a position.

_I suppose it's better than being called "Sorceress Rinoa" though._

Asuka was diverted from her hunt by a vibration in her pocket.

"Hello?" She answered the mobile phone.

"_**Hello Asuka, its Ellone. I need to talk to you."**_

"Ok, no problem. Let me go back to my dorm and I'll…"

"_**Actually, I'm in Balamb Garden. Can you meet me in the Quad?"**_

"Of course. See you in a minute."

Asuka closed her phone and turned around, heading for the central lift, wondering if Ellone had finally decided to call in the favour that Asuka owed to her. She would have to find the Instructor tomorrow, unless another mission arose, which wasn't likely.

Once the lift reached the ground floor, she moved to the Quad as quickly as she could, and stood by the boarder railings, enjoying the warm evening breeze.

"Hello Asuka. Thank you for meeting me on such short notice." Ellone was stood a few feet away.

"How many times do I have to tell you that it isn't a problem Ellone? If you hadn't used that talent of yours to show me Sonnet's past, I don't know if I'd have ever been able to forgive myself for killing her."

"As a matter of fact, that is why I'm here. Do you remember last week that I told you I was having trouble sleeping?"

"Yes." Asuka observed that she still looked pale.

"I had dream-witnessed the epicentre of what looked a lot like a Lunar Cry," she paused at Asuka's shocked gasp, "And I've had other dreams since. I was advised to record what happens in them, so I started drawing what I could recall. Could you please take a look and tell me what you think?"

"You're asking the wrong person for artistic appraisal. I can't draw to save my life."

Smiling slightly, Ellone held out a worn looking folder, which Asuka took and opened near to the Quad entrance, out of the breeze."

"I'm glad you didn't draw the Lunar Cry," Asuka observed, running her hand across one of the drawings, "Just seeing that occurring from Deling City was terrifying enough for me. I doubt I would survive being caught in the landing point."

"These are good," She commented after flipping through a few more, "Maybe you should frame them?"

"I don't know. Perhaps."

"Who are these people?"

"I don't know, but they keep appearing. She," Ellone pointed to a girl clad in a skin tight vest and shorts that had frills around the bottom of the leg holes, "Was in the Lunar Cry dream, along with her."

This time the drawing looked like a young woman with short hair and dark clothes, including high heeled boots.

"And as for him, he was on a pier, gazing out to something at sea."

'Him' was a tall man wearing a long coat, and carrying a large sword which seemed to match his height

"I don't know how any of it is connected, but these people keep appearing."

Asuka turned to the final page, which contained a group of five people: five women and two men.

"Odd sense of fashion and those two have really odd hairstyles."

"Don't blame me," Ellone scowled, "That's how they looked in the dreams."

"Sorry Ellone, but I don't know what these dreams might be trying to tell you, unless you will see these people one day?"

**Attention all Garden personnel, curfew will commence in 20 minutes. Repeat: curfew will commence in 10 minutes. Thank you.**

"Are you staying in Garden overnight?" Asuka queried after the tannoy announcement.

"If Squall doesn't mind, yes. Tell me Asuka, have you ever considered living outside of the Garden?"

"Once or twice, why?"

"There is an apartment building in the city close to where I live. They look to be of good build and decent prices. I'm sure you could afford one."

"Thanks Ellone, I'll keep it in mind. I get there feeling that a great change is coming though, which I may not survive."

"And what gives you this feeling?"

"I don't know. But, given the public opinion about your sister-in-law, I think she might be a factor."

"I hope you're wrong." Ellone sadly commented before excusing herself. Asuka then went to her dorm, pondering Ellone's mention of apartments in Balamb City.

_Maybe I'll consider it, if I'm still alive at the end of the year._

_

* * *

_Ellone had gone into one of the spare dorms near to her brother's one, and had just about enough time to change into some sleeping clothes before collapsing onto the bed. Sadly, sleep wasn't going to be a restful thing for her that night.

_An enormous monster that resembled a warped version of a whale was floating in the sky ahead of a strangely designed airship, one that was very manoeuvrable, and seemed to have a rotating wheel at the back, similar to the one that moved below Balamb Garden when it was mobile. A large purple ball of energy, crisscrossed with lines of purple and white fire, formed in front of the "mouth" of this monster. The ball seemed to work as a giant gravity type magic spell, but it sucked in everything that was in its vicinity. Sea water, cloud vapours, sea life, soil from the nearby coastline. The only thing that seemed to be immune was the unusual airship._

_The energy ball expanded until it several times its original diameter, and then shot out from the monster in six different directions, flying for miles before finally dispersing. In its wake, there was a huge circular gap in whatever had been in its path. Again, the clouds, the ocean, the ground, all were ripped open by the massive raw power of the energy ball._

_The ocean and ground seemed to have frozen, with a semi-circular trench cut into them…for a few seconds before gravity reasserted itself, and the sides of the water trench collapsed back into itself, starting from close to where the monster was still floating. Medium level floods and earthquakes occurred as nature took control of its elements again. The houses close to the coastline were instantly consumed by the raging water, along with nearly a dozen people close by._

_The huge monster still floated there, blatantly defying the planet that it had just harmed._

_What the hell was that?_ Ellone thought as she jolted awake, and rolling onto her back to allow her overworked lungs to deal with the increased heart rate and panic that she was feeling as a result of that nightmare.

* * *

"I'm worried Squall," Rinoa confided in her husband around the same time as Ellone was trying to sleep, "These powers seem to be getting stronger no matter what we try. I'm not sure this will work for very long. I'm thinking of seeing if Odine himself can help."

"No!" Squall was adamant on this, "We know how uncaring he is towards human 'research subjects'."

"We have to do something," She replied in a similar tone, "I have the powers of three Sorceresses combined within me, and one of them doesn't even exist yet. I'm not too surprised that they are getting stronger as time passes."

He looked up from the table, almost reluctant to meet her eyes.

"Besides Odine, I'm willing to consider any suggestions."

"Hermit lifestyle?"

"I don't think Fallback is required yet." Squall replied with a slight smile.

"I mentioned it to Miss Ikari earlier; I wonder if she will support us as Miss Paige has?"

"We will see. Quistis tells me that between the supplies on the boat, thanks to Matron, and the ones at the Fallback site, we'll have enough to last for nearly a year. After that, we'll have a problem."

"I still hope Fallback isn't needed."

Squall was silent for a moment, before he revealed something that he had arranged earlier in the day:

"If we do need to use it, I know that Garden will be safe once we're gone. I've arranged for all Gardens to have sanctuary in Esthar, as long as we are not onboard."

"That's nice, but why are you sugar-coating it Squall? You never used to."

"Where you go, I go. That is part of the Knight's Oath, remember? I think the rest of the gang would go with us as well."


	10. Chapter 10: Sparring

Chapter Ten: Sparring

Alicia had always firmly believed that a good night's sleep and/or a hot shower worked to heal any ailment. Stepping out of such a shower, she considered how she was feeling: no headache, no tiredness or blurred vision, so a lot better than she had been the previous night. She was pretty sure she had been asleep long before the curfew announcement, as she didn't recall faintly hearing it as she usually did from her dorm.

Wrapping one of the Garden's white standard issue towels around her, she moved to the sinks to brush her hair.

"Morning Alicia," Asuka greeted as she entered the shower facilities, "You're up early."

"And you're not?" Alicia shot back.

"I am, but I have an appointment."

"Anything interesting?"

"Not really: an informal chat with Instructor Ives, and then maybe a Training Centre visit. How about you?"

"No, nothing planned," Alicia observed Asuka in the mirror as she placed her own towel over a shower cubicle door, "I might join you in the Training Centre if you don't mind?"

"Nope, feel free. I doubt we'll get a new mission today, so we might as well do what we feel like."

"You're probably right," Alicia pulled the brush through her hair again, realising that it would take a lot less time now that her hair was shorter, "Since it was more than two weeks between our last missions."

"See you later." Asuka stepped into the shower.

* * *

After breakfast, Asuka had briefly visited the Library to return a due book, and access the mainframe to check her email, before heading to chat with Instructor Ives.

The Instructor was almost like an older version of Asuka herself, or how Asuka would like to be. While not as tall as Asuka, they shared the same red hair and an interest in blade weapons. Also, the Instructor was only in her early 30s, and she was already a recognised Blade Master, a title that Asuka sought for herself one day.

It appeared that she had timed it perfectly: Instructor Ives had just dismissed her class which Asuka let move past her before she slipped into the class room.

"Morning Instructor."

"Hello Asuka, what brings you here?"

"I wanted to talk, if you have a few minutes?"

"I think so, take a seat," Instructor Ives turned away from the window at the far end of the room, and moved towards the front, "We've not really spoken over the last couple of years. In fact, I think the last time was when you wanted my advice not long after you…"

"Yes, it was, and I never thanked you for that either."

"It's no problem. It must have been hard to live with until you learned more about the situation. Now, what brings you here?"

"Other than to see how you were, I was wondering if you knew that I was visited by Mrs Leonhart yesterday afternoon. She said that it was your suggestion that she spar with me to get some sword practise."

"Yes, it was, as you were one of my best students, so you could help her and not go all out in the process. You are quick to anger, but with good reflexes, a keen tactical sense, and a strong sense of honour."

"Your latest report summary before my SeeD exam. I remember," Asuka smirked, "Although I like to think I've got the anger a bit more under control now. Anyway, her visit was your idea, and I'm looking forward to sparring with her. Good katana users are rare around here."

"Present company excluded of course. And I would like to ask you to come along to monitor and evaluate."

A sparkle appeared in her hazel eyes before a small smile spread across her lips.

"Play the referee you mean? Yes, I would enjoy that, and someone has to keep you under control."

Asuka glared, causing her to chuckle:

"Thank you. So when is this spar?"

"At 1100, if I can find her to remind her, in Training Room D."

"I'll see you there then."

* * *

As it turned out, Asuka need not have tracked her down in the Library, as she had just been leaving there to head for the Training Room. Asuka hadn't been able to tell if she had been working, or just relaxing.

The two women were now standing opposite each other with their swords drawn. By fluke, both were clad in black: Asuka with a black vest, jeans, socks and trainers, while Mrs Leonhart had worn her usual blue and black attire, but removed the long blue jacket and arm warmers. Asuka had been surprised to see wrist guards underneath those, but could also see the sense in them.

For some reason, the Odine Bangle kept catching her eye, almost as if reminding her that her opponent was a powerful magic user. Based on her words from the previous night, Asuka suspected that she was now too powerful to be stopped by one person alone, but also hoped to Hyne that she wouldn't have to find out.

Instructor Ives was a short distance away, her face set in its usual stoic expression, and her unique katana, the Corusca Blade, sheathed on her back.

Asuka was well aware that fighting against another human was very different from fighting against a monster. Humans were often patient and intelligent creatures, while monsters were simply creatures of instinct. This made Humans more challenging opponents.

Keeping a two handed grip on her katana, Asuka slightly loosened her left hand, while reading the body language of her opponent so that she could either move to attack, or strengthen her defence, depending on what her opponent did. Reading body language was an old skill for Asuka, but admittedly one that she had difficulty with.

She was planning to wait, and let her opponent make the first move, but it unfortunately appeared like her opponent had the same idea. She risked a glance at Instructor Ives, who now had a very slight smile on her face.

Bracing for any sudden moves, Asuka observed her opponents stance. Unlike her, the sword handle wasn't held at waist height with the blade vertical. Instead she held the handle horizontally in front of her face, with her hands gripping the handle in opposite directions, and the blade turned so that the sharp edge was pointed upwards.

It seemed that Instructor Ives had trained her opponent well, as Asuka couldn't see any major gaps in her defence as they slowly circled each other. There were a few small gaps though, which Asuka eventually decided to test by making the first move.

In three quick strides, Asuka was right in front of her opponent, her sword slicing through the air on a diagonal line, aiming for the unprotected stomach. Until an adjusted diagonal blade parried her strike away and closer to the ground.

_A good start!_ She thought, re-establishing her grip and trying another strike at her opponents' arm, which was also parried, causing her to jump away.

"Good reflexes," She called, making a suggestion, "But if you are going to put your hand on the blade to help you block and parry, you might want to consider gloves. Protection for both you and the sword."

Her opponent moved to strike as Asuka held up her katana in defence, but she was caught off guard as she feinted, and then span around before Asuka could block or parry, cutting her arm in the process.

_She's fast!_ Asuka realised that she had underestimated Mrs Leonhart, knowing that her original disc launcher weapon hadn't required such swiftness like that which she was demonstrating now, clearly picked up in the short time that she had been learning, _this will be interesting now._

Her face plainly showing concentration, even to Asuka, Mrs Leonhart span her katana backwards in a one handed grip as she increased the distance between them, re-establishing a two handed grip and leaving an opening for Asuka.

Numerous training cautions about hesitation flashed through her mind as she acted on the tiny window of opportunity, which resulted in Mrs Leonhart staggering back from the punch to the gut, to which Asuka added a cut running down her forearm, and her katana falling from that hand.

"Enough!" Instructor Ives called, concluding the spar, "Both have drawn blood, so it ends. Now!"

Concentrating, Asuka cast a weak Cure spell on herself, and then on Mrs Leonhart, rapidly healing their injuries. Asuka also picked up her sword, and held the handle to her.

"Thank you," Mrs Leonhart held out a hand, "That was an experience."

"You're welcome," Asuka shook the hand, "You only left gaps in your guard twice, so I didn't have that many chances."

"Any advice?"

"Only to not hesitate while moving. Once you take a step, finish that step, otherwise you leave yourself vulnerable."

"That's how you struck me?"

"Ironic advice coming from you, since that was one of your early problems."

"I remember Instructor. It seems to be fairly common for sword users."

"It is, but easy enough to handle," she turned to Mrs Leonhart, "A good first trial Rinoa. Keep practising, and meet me here this afternoon. I'll show you some new footwork moves. Also, keep your guard up as your opponent will rarely be predictable," she looked at Asuka now, "Or play fair, even though that is expected it's rarely done out in the world."

"Come on," Asuka challenged, "You punched me in the face and then stabbed me in the shoulder during my final test. You hardly played fair either."

"That was the whole point my dear."

"Thank you both," Mrs Leonhart nodded to each of the other women, "I will see you later."

"I'll contact you for a rematch?"

"Yes please. Or let Squall or Quisty know, and they'll pass the message to me."

Mrs Leonhart then reclaimed her blue jacket, and resheathed her katana as she left the room. Asuka started to follow her, but Instructor Ives, grabbed her arm.

"You seem pre-occupied, is it because of what happened 5 years ago?"

"Yeah," Asuka was surprised by the question, but since the Instructor kept tabs on Garden happenings, she shouldn't have been surprised by her knowing, "It's still painful after so long."

"They were your friends; of course their deaths would be painful. But, look at what's happened since. You're a high ranking SeeD…"

"Which isn't what it used to be since the world is gradually turning against us."

"…true, but it's still an achievement for you. You're also very skilled in self defence, and you have a family closer to you than your birth family."

That got a smile.

"That's true; they are great people who I love. More than I can say for my birth parents."

"The door is still open, if you want to talk to me about anything. You know that?"

"I do, thank you."

Her infolink suddenly buzzed, distracting her.

"Let me know if you want to spar against me sometime. I'm sure we could learn new tricks."

"Are you serious? You're a Blade Master, what can I possibly teach you?"

"You've been out in the field a lot more than me recently, and I'm sure you have a few moves that I don't know. Your Elemental Blade, for example, is something that I can't do."

"I can't do your Flame Cannon move," Asuka countered, as her infolink buzzed again, "Excuse me a minute."

"Brother," she triggered her microphone, "Hello?"

* * *

Alicia looked around the Quad, and then leaned on the balcony and looked out over the Arkland Plains, admiring the view. She currently felt clearer headed than she had for a few weeks. There were times when she didn't like not having a mission, but at the moment she was glad of the fact as she could relax.

She had sent Asuka a brief infolink message, asking her to meet her in the Quad as soon as possible, and then deactivated it. Even though Dr Young hadn't said that the device was the cause of her headaches, Alicia had decided that the less she used it the better.

"Enjoying yourself?" Asuka queried leaning next to her. Alicia hadn't heard her approach due to the chatter of numerous others in the area.

"Yes, it's peaceful, and pleasant weather," She glanced at Asuka, "Are you not hot in that coat?"

"Not really."

"I always knew you were a mad woman. Anyway, I wanted you to view this."

Alicia passed over the "Operation Fallback" folder that the Commander had given her to read, missing the twitch of Asuka's eye as she recalled Mrs Leonhart mentioning it.

After a few minutes, Asuka handed it back, her expression more serious than Alicia had seen it for a long time. Turning away, she leaned back against the balcony, and folded her arms.

"Things must be more serious than we thought." She finally said, almost whispering.

"Maybe. I'm more inclined to think that it's a final move though, only to be used if all else fails."

"What happens if they are tracked to that location though?"

"There's another aspect, which is the true Last Resort."

"How do…you're supporting them?"

"Yes."

"Phew," Asuka blew a loose strand of hair from near to her eye, "I wasn't expecting that."

"I do owe them both though," She continued, "And I need to repay them for that. I'm not sure I can live like a refugee though, especially not somewhere so remote."

"I know what you mean, it was difficult for me. I eventually decided to help because I do care about what happens to them. Plus, who knows what we could see and learn if the Last Resort has to be done?"

"Always the explorer," Asuka commented, missing the subtle clue, "Why are you like that anyway?"

"If we end up reaching opposite decisions, will there be any hard feelings?" Alicia deftly changed the subject.

Asuka turned her head towards her, making eye contact, before shaking her head.

"A few, but it is your call, and I respect that."

"Likewise," Alicia breathed in relief, "after all, these lives are ours to live, so the choice should be ours."

"Thank you."

"By the way, what was that passphrase for Mr Shuuichi's handiwork?"

Asuka repeated it to her, the words bringing back more memories from five years ago.

"How could you forget that? You normally remember everything you're told."

"I don't know, I just couldn't recall it. Maybe Byakko took that memory this time. Good thing you could, as Mr Shuuichi is practically a hermit these days, so I doubt I could contact him as ask for it."

"True. I'm glad he set it up though, in case we do see her again. And by the way, how did you know about that Fallback site?"

Alicia only smiled in response, as Asuka had her answer, even if she didn't realise it, before heading out of the Quad. She was going to update her journal, adding the passphrase to the pages, and prepare an emergency bag, in case the Commander did decide to implement Fallback.

_First thing's first though,_ she decided as she approached the central lift, _this needs to be returned._

As the door opened on the second floor, Alicia blinked as she didn't recall the lift arriving, or her stepping into it. She asked for Commander Trepe, only to learn that she was away at Galbadia Garden for some sort of negotiations, and Commander Leonhart wasn't available. Because of that she decided to keep hold of the folder for the time being. Widespread knowledge of it would make it redundant pretty quickly.

She hadn't been told what the true Last Resort actually was, but trusted that the Commander wasn't bluffing when he had told her that there was another aspect. Plus, he was too good a small-unit tactician to allow the group of eight to be cornered by an oversight like that.

_Not again!_ She placed a hand on the wall of the lift, and closed her eyes as her vision went double, and her balance was affected.

She was going to have another nap as soon as her other tasks had been done, as she must have been more drained than she realised.


	11. Chapter 11: History Lesson

Chapter Eleven: "History" Lesson

"I don't understand something," Paine admitted as she drank from the glass that Rikku had served from the _Celsius_ bar, "Those control computers must have been in the Underground from when it was completed. Why wouldn't Yevon examine them themselves?"

"Since the banning of machina was only a public order and didn't apply to the Yevon higher ups, right?" Rikku spoke up, having been silent since the four friends had returned to their airship, which was parked close to Bevelle, "Maybe the early Maesters did, but didn't record anything about them."

She glanced to Yuna, who had been reading through the various bits of information that they had gathered from the control computers, and trying to sort it out in some fashion. Despite Tidus' prediction, they hadn't all been linked together, so all 7 that they had looked at had had different information on them. Some of it seemed to be around the time of the Machina War, and others from many years before then. They were a potential source of history, which Yuna was hoping could be confirmed by their Machina Lady friend if they could restore her.

"Knowledge of the Underground was word of mouth, right Yunie?"

"According to Baralai." Yuna didn't even look up from the piles of paper.

After three computers, Rikku had shown Yuna how to use one, allowing her to copy down whatever she deemed suitable while the other three kept watch for fiends.

"So," Rikku continued, "Maybe the same was true with these computers: word of mouth only, so after 1,000 years no-one knows how to use them."

"You did." Paine observed.

"I'm Al Bhed, we're experts with machina, remember."

"You have machina like that in Home, don't you?" Paine recalled.

"Yep, and there's the airships as well. Mind you, our computers are not that sophisticated. And we can't put batteries in ours yet, we can't make them small enough. I'm going to ask Baralai if I can retrieve a couple of those batteries. We might be able to reverse engineer them and make them available for all of Spira."

"So what about those machina we encountered as Guardians?" Tidus asked, "How did they work?"

"We didn't really know back then," Rikku was sheepish, "We just found them, and their 'on' switch and they were let loose, attacking anyone who came close to them."

"But now?"

"We understand them quite well now. Well enough to make similar ones, and set them up as we wish. And no Tidus, we can't just turn her 'on', as she doesn't have any energy."

"You tried that then?"

"First thing once she was out of the Pod."

"So all it needed was one Al Bhed to go down there and we recover a lot of information and history."

"Good thing New Yevon came clean everything then Rikku," Tidus consumed his water, "Otherwise those computers might never have been fixed."

"That's true Rikku," Paine agreed, "you're probably the first Al Bhed to officially be allowed down there."

"And looked what was gained from it!" Rikku hopped behind the bar and collected all four glasses, refilling them.

"It's only possible information though. We can't verify it against anything."

"We may be able to, if we recharge her."

"You are committed to helping her, aren't you."

"Yep!" Rikku didn't realise that Paine hadn't asked a question, "Not just because she is a machina marvel though. As Yunie said, she must have a lot of history in her head if she worked for Bevelle, and Esthar."

"So Yuna, what can you tell us about from the information you copied?"

"A lot, but I can not be sure it's in the correct order, as Spira's calendar changed with Sin's Birth, and again with the Eternal Calm."

"Tell us," Tidus gently requested, "Maybe we can work out a timeline between the four of us."

"All right," Yuna quickly arranged the pile of paper into several smaller piles, "I think these are events that are close to each other, and each pile is a new point in time."

"This seems to be the furthest back in time, as there is no mention of any of the places we know now. Apparently, along with Esthar, there were the lands of Galbadia, Trabia, Dollet, Centra, Balamb and Shumi."

"There was a long peace between them, but something happened which caused a major War, resulting in Centra and Shumi being devastated, killing many thousands of people. There was also some kind of disaster, which destroyed Esthar, but the people endured and eventually rebuilt it into Zanarkand up in the North near to Trabia, which from the looks of this map..."

Tidus glanced at the map, and whistled, before Yuna continued:

"…Trabia might have been where Mount Gagazet is now."

The map was passed around, and while Paine's face didn't change, Rikku's eyes widened to impossible sizes.

"Whoa, the world was different then. Did Sin cause these changes?"

"Some of them, I'll get to that later. Around the time of Esthar being destroyed, there was also a group known as Seed, which were apparently a neutral peacekeeping force around the world. They helped the survivors to escape the ruins, and get them to safety in the North, where they eventually founded Zanarkand."

Paine's eyes narrowed:

"That's different from what I learned in the Crimson Squad: Seed was a mercenary force who would fight any battle for anyone who paid them enough money. They had no morals, or ethics, or rules, they just fought for money."

Yuna reclaimed the map from Rikku, and then placed another one with it:

"This seems to be about a mid point, where a catastrophe called "Fire From the Skies" struck, and this is fascinating," She began quoting, "'the Fire From the Skies hit many places all at the same time, not all on the land of Spira. Widespread damage occurred in the form of lands splitting, drifting and sinking, including the remains of Esthar and most of the northern Shumi lands. Additional destruction later occurred by rising tides, changing weather patterns, shaking land and burning forests, resulting in the near extinction of the human people.'"

"It seems like we were nearly killed by this "Fire From the Skies". Maybe that was why the Underground was built?" Paine commented.

"It would make sense. What was that about not all of Spira?"

"No," Yuna shook her head, "'not all **on** Spira.' I think it means Spira's moon, according to this, it used to be spherical before the Fires. And now it's always crescent shaped."

"There was more," Yuna continued, "Apparently, almost immediately after the Fires, there were problems for those not killed in the initial catastrophe. For a long time afterwards, people apparently suffered from new and terrifying illnesses. Although we are familiar with headaches, burns, nausea, and fever now, these were new "strains" that people were vulnerable to. Also, life expectancy was only around 40 years. Even during Sin, people lived for much longer than that. Back then, some of the ill people would die screaming in pain from injuries, burns, and strange growths that apparently 'sucked the life from a person', with no hope of reaching the Farplane."

"What's the last pile Yunie?"

Yuna grabbed the final pile, her hands scrunching the edges of it:

"This seems to be around the time of our Prison Warden friend from the first computer we looked at. It only mentions one thing that Rikku didn't read to us. Paine, what happened to Seed?"

"I don't know. They seemed to vanish a few years before Sin was born."

"Apparently, they were wiped out by a Lady Ultimecia who was Zanarkand's ruler," Her hands nearly tore the paper in half before she took her water and gulped it down in one breath, prompting Rikku to refill it again, "No explanation as to why though. All I read was that she considered them troublemakers, and ordered their destruction."

"Wait a sec; did you say this was from just before Sin was born, so Yevon would have been around too?" Tidus suddenly exclaimed.

"Yes, why…" Yuna's eyes suddenly lit up, "The Sorceress is Lady Ultimecia! Is that what you are thinking?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe this "Seed" group killed someone close to her?" Rikku suggested, "If they just fought for money, they could have done this at some point."

"So she kills them _all_ as revenge?" Paine seemed shocked now, "That's crazy."

"Maybe she was," Yuna almost whispered, "There are times when my magic power is hard to control, and Lulu is the same. If this Sorceress was so powerful, maybe the power controlled her."

"That's a fun thought. Could anyone stop someone with so much power?"

"Someone apparently did," Yuna remembered, "That record that Baralai showed to us, in the Sorceress' Castle? That group of six. They did kill her, somehow."

"Right, I forgot about that too." Tidus admitted.

"And that then caused the Machina War." Rikku reiterated her earlier theory.

"If this information is true, what if those six," Paine didn't doubt what Yuna and Tidus have said they had seen, "Were the survivors of her killing of Seed?"

"A final act of revenge?" Tidus put what they were all thinking into words.

"Maybe, but what makes a member of Seed capable of killing someone so powerful?"

"I have no idea. There's no other mention in what we've found so far."

Everyone in the room had a similar expression by this point.

"I guess that's something for you to look for next time we're down there," Tidus said, "What was on those maps?"

"They seem to be Spira before the Fires, and afterwards. A lot changed."

Both of them were passed around the table, and even the stoic Paine was surprised by the differences now that she could compare both maps: almost all of the land of Galbadia had gone, leaving only Bikanel Island and a cluster of smaller islands in a curved line. The Southern land of Centra and Eastern land of Esthar seemed to have merged into one large continent after Esthar drifted to the West, while the far Northern continent of Trabia had moved further north, changing Zanarkand's location. Finally, the small Island of Balamb that sat between all of them had vanished, presumably sunk in the Fires.

"This was all done by one event?" Tidus was stunned.

"Not directly," Paine had pieced it together in her head, "The after effects did a lot of damage as well. Also, Sin could have caused more damage during its existence, as you witnessed first hand."

"So much lost," Yuna looked at the two maps sadly, making no effort to keep the tears in her eyes from falling, "So many lives, so much history, sustainable land, and resources. So many, so many…"

She couldn't stop her tears, causing Tidus to wrap his arms around her as best he could while seated, and for Paine and Rikku to wait for their friend to recover.

The two other women left the table briefly as Yuna grabbed Tidus in a determined effort to reach for something solid to support her.

"She'll never change." Paine commented.

"No, Yunie always cares about life before anything else. She wouldn't be Yunie if she didn't."

Once she had recovered a few minutes later, Rikku handed out more drinks, adding a touch of lemon to Yuna's, before Yuna spoke and shocked her:

"There are times when I think Seymour was right; Spira seems to be a land of suffering and death."

"Don't say that Yunie," Rikku exclaimed, "look at all the good things that have also emerged. People now have long life, communities, and developing technology, although Sin did kick it all back for 1,000 years. Thanks to us though, things can continue to develop."

Yuna smiled, and looked at all three of her close friends:

"Now I agree with you Rikku. I want to know what Sonnet has in her head. What she could teach us about our past. If she is from Esthar, she could fill in a lot of gaps in our history. What do you plan to do to revive her?"

After preventing herself from choking, Rikku answered:

"I need to locate her energy cells, or whatever it is that provides her energy. I'm confident that there will be a drained energy cell inside her, which I can hopefully use to create something similar. Once connected to her, she should awaken."

"And that isn't guesswork?" Paine queried.

"Not completely, although it is based on those older machina that we used to find and fix. She is far more sophisticated than they are though, so I'm not sure if I will be able to do it."

"You will," Yuna now spoke in a tone of confidence, gained from her experiences against Sin and Vegnagun, "You are talented Rikku, and I've never seen you back away from a challenge that you set for yourself. If it were not for the two of you, the Spiral of Death would still be taking place, meaning no Eternal Calm."

"I doubt that Yunie," Rikku looked to Tidus, "We saw you having your doubts as your Pilgrimage progressed. Meeting Yunalesca was the final straw for you and Wakka. We did help, but I think you would have reached the same decision without us along for the ride."

"I don't think so," Yuna smiled, "The passion for life, and determination that you both carry within you was a guiding light for me. If you hadn't been there, I would have continued with my journey, never learning the truth about Yevon."

"Anyway," Rikku deftly changed the subject, "energy lines are easy to spot. The ones used in Home were developed by studying old machina, so she must have similar lines in her body. If I can locate one, and trace it back to its source, I'll have her energy cell. I'll start at her heart, as that note suggested."

"You know my concerns," Paine stated, "I'm not keen on this, but I'll ask Skye to help you."

"We'll stick with the cell plan?" Tidus questioned, "So that she is contained if she does turn out to be violent?"

"Yes. Rikku will revive her, while Yuna, you, and I guard outside. Rikku should join us as quickly as possible so we can lock the cell."

"Ok," Yuna took control again, "We're all agreed that we need to revive her, but not with her weapons. We can return those if she is trustworthy."

"Yep. I guess I'll head for Home. And get started. Is an airship due at Bevelle anytime soon?"

"Yes, the _Alexander_ is due in about three hours. They will be going to Guadosalam, and they will take you to Bikanel if you can pay them a little more."

"I thought you didn't charge friends?"

"I don't, but I won't be on that ship. I need to go back to work."

Paine placed her glass on the bar, and nodded to the others as she left:

"Contact me if you need me for the Underground again. I'll get to you as soon as I can."

"Thank you, my friend," Yuna answered, standing herself, "I'll go and give Baralai an update, which includes the history."

"But not Sonnet?"

"No, she will remain our secret for now."

* * *

Later in the day, as she had promised to do, Yuna paid Baralai a visit in his office in the Bevelle Temple-Palace.

"Lady Yuna," He stood in greeting, "What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"We've managed to draw maps of a few sections of the Underground," Yuna explained, "and we've also gained some historical information."

"Really? That is impressive work." He indicated the more comfortable chairs at the window side of the office.

Once they were seated, Yuna placed a small pile of paper onto the table, copies of what she had already written and drawn from the Underground. She had asked Brother to redraw the maps, as she wasn't very skilled at drawing.

"That is impressive work; I knew asking the three of you to do this was a good idea."

"Thank you, but there are four of us now."

"Sir Tidus?"

"Yes. His knowledge from Zanarkand, and Rikku's skills with machina, has allowed us to find this history information."

Yuna sifted through the paper pile, and split it into two separate ones.

"Underground information is that pile, and that one is the history we have found."

Baralai quickly read through it, before asking where they had found it.

"There are numerous old machina down there, which seem to be machina libraries. Tidus recognised them from his time in Zanarkand, and informed Rikku on how they worked. From there, we were able to restore a few, and obtain that information, which includes people who lived here in Bevelle around the time of the ancient Machina War."

"Truly?"

"Yes. We have an idea of what might have caused the War now, as well as how Sin came to be. There are two maps in there as well, Spira many years ago, and the Spira we know today. And Sin did not cause all of the changes to the land."

Seeing the maps on the top of the pile, Baralai examined them:

"Do you know how long before Sin that this was the shape of Spira?"

"I'm sorry, but no. We think that the Eastern land, Esthar, was destroyed before that War, and rebuilt as Zanarkand in the far north. Also, it looks like the Western land, Galbadia, was claimed by the oceans, leaving only a small Island that became Bikanel over time."

She pointed to the information in question as she explained.

"This is fascinating information, Lady Yuna. Do you have any objections to continuing?"

"Not at all. But we'll have to wait for a few days. Rikku is going back to Home to work on a personal project, and Paine needs to check on her airship business."

"I understand. Take your time, it has been there for 1,000 years, so a few days won't make any difference."

"Thank you. We'll continue as soon as we can."

"I am grateful for your efforts, and I'm sure the others are too. Oh, also," Yuna stopped halfway to her feet, "I've been getting reports from the Crusaders that a group of people are looking for you. They are in the Calm Lands at present, but seem to be making their way here."

"Unusual how?"

"They have very odd clothing and strange weapons. Also apparent memory loss, as they have no knowledge of Sin, Vegnagun, or of Spira in general. One report mentioned a place called "Gaia", which I've asked the Archives to look up."

"And they've not found anything." Yuna guessed. She didn't recognise it either.

"Correct."

"Why are they looking for me?"

"You're not exactly unknown, Lady Yuna, you've changed our world twice, which has left a powerful impression on a lot of people. Maybe these strangers remember you, and are hoping you can help them?"

Yuna sighed, wanting some time to herself for a change.

"Well, if they come to Bevelle, I'll see them, but I can't promise anything."

"Nor would anyone expect you to, you and your friends have done more than enough for everyone."

"Thank you Baralai. Good day."

He bowed as she left his office, and headed out of the Temple-Palace. Any of the guards or New Yevon members in the building nodded politely as she passed them. To her relief, they were not as generous in showing their respect as they used to be. Especially since she hadn't received any marriage proposals since he had returned which was a good thing. Her heart only belonged to him: the only man she had ever loved and wanted to marry. She had done so nearly a year ago in a relatively quiet ceremony…after the wedding though, it seemed like all of Spira was arriving in Besaid to congratulate them. She hadn't felt happier since then.

As she stepped out into the sunshine, she stretched her arms over her head as she headed towards the edge of the city, and the parked _Celsius_. Unconsciously, her hands slid behind her head as she walked; imitating one of her husband's postures as also she enjoyed the warm weather.

She couldn't help wonder about the people that Baralai had mentioned, especially the apparent memory loss. How could they know of her, but not of Sin, the Calms, or even Vegnagun?

Reaching their home and typing in the entry code, she strode up the ramp and headed for the bridge.

"Hello Yuna. How did the meeting go?"

"Fine Buddy," She smiled, "Any messages?"

"Tidus said he was going to see Rikku off and then he'll return here. Also, Lulu called, saying it was urgent."

"I see, thank you. I'm going to call Besaid."

Buddy simply nodded and turned back to the navigation console as Yuna sat in Shinra's former chair, and accessed the Spira-wide comm. sphere network. It took her a minute, as she was still learning how to use this machina, before she linked Shinra's computer to the comm. sphere in Besaid Village.

"Hi Wakka!" She greeted as her childhood friend and adoptive brother appeared on the display.

"_Mornin Yuna. Nice day?"_

"Yes it is. How is my nephew?"

"_Sleeping. Lulu said she wanted to talk to you, I'm guessing that's why you called, ya?"_

"If she's not busy. I have a question for her too."

"_Nah, I don't think so. I'll get her."_

"Thank you Wakka."

Less than a minute passed before Lulu's pale face appeared on the monitor:

"Hi Lulu. How are you?"

"_I'm fine, thank you. Vidina is finally asleep. I don't know where he gets his energy from."_

"Don't tell me he's wearing you down?"

"_Only a little."_

"Wakka said that you wanted to talk to me?"

"_Yes. Besaid had a few visitors yesterday, people looking for you. Two women and a man"_

"That's nothing new, Lulu."

"_True, but something seemed a little off about these people. Their attire was strange too. One of these women was wearing all black, while the other was wearing yellow and brown. The man with them also wore yellow and brown, along with a black hat."_

"That is odd. Baralai mentioned to me earlier that there were people in the Calm Lands with odd clothing that were looking for me as well. Oh, does 'Gaia' mean anything to you?"

"_No, I'm afraid not. Should it?"_

"Apparently one of the people in the Calm Lands said they were from a place called Gaia. You seem to know a lot about many things, so I thought I would ask."

"_Not this time. Sorry to disappoint you. Now, remain on your guard Yuna. Even with the New Yevon and Youth League working together now, there are still those who would seek to use your achievements for their own purposes."_

"I will Lulu, I've got good friends here and I can take care of myself."

"_I know. Take care Yuna."_

"Bye Lulu, thank you for the message."

Once that was done, she thanked Buddy, and headed up to the cabin area. Upon entering the room, she noticed that her original copy of the information from the Underground had been placed neatly on her bed.

_Probably Paine._ She decided.

A glance around told her that there was no one else in the room, so she had it to herself. Humming Lenne's song, she slid off her boots and flopped backwards onto her bed, allowing her eyes to close in the warm sunshine that was flowing through the large window.

* * *

Tidus entered the cabin after seeing Rikku off to Bikanel, looking for Yuna. He smiled as he noticed her sprawled out on their bed, and stealthily moved to the side of it, removing one of his gloves at the same time.

"If you tickle me, I'll make you sleep in the engine room again." Her voice murmured.

"I thought you were sleeping." Tidus replaced his glove.

"No, enjoying the sunlight," she held an arm out as she opened her eyes, "Has Rikku left yet?"

"Yeah," Tidus pulled her upright, "Although I'd say it's even gil if she goes to Home, or that prison building."

"Why? Wouldn't she just go to Home?"

"She reckons that the prison might contain something that could help her restore Sonnet. But at the same time, she wants to try her energy idea."

"And she couldn't decide which to do first?"

"Nope."

"Typical Rikku," Yuna started tying her boot laces, "Determined to a fault, yet often unsure about how to reach her goal."

"I don't blame her though. I'm curious about how Sonnet is as she is too. I'm also curious about that skin of hers."

"What do you mean?"

"How does it work?" He grabbed her hand again once her footwear was tied, and pulled her to her feet, "She couldn't walk around with the metal showing, so the skin substitute is meant to cover it, but where does it come from? I doubt she can grow it like you or I can."

"You're starting to sound like Rikku concerning her," Yuna commented as they entered the lift, "It is a good thing I don't get jealous."

"What? Do you really think I would…?"

"Stop there before you do get yourself in trouble," Yuna grinned, "And as for her skin, maybe she will tell you once she is awake."

* * *

Rikku buried the blades of her daggers into the belly of the Sand Wolf that had attacked her, and aggressively ripped them out again, cutting the fiend to pieces and converting it into pyreflies.

_Too easy!_ She thought to herself, shining her experimental machina light down the corridor again, continuing her solo exploration of the apparent prison building. The layout so far had certainly reminded her of the former cells in Home, and Bevelle.

As Tidus had told Yuna, she had been unsure about where to go, and had in fact been heading for Home when she remembered the message device which implied that Sonnet had originally been buried in the prison. With this in mind, she had detoured here in the hope of locating something that could help to restore Sonnet, preferably power generation equipment. Older equipment, she reasoned, should be more compatible with Sonnet than anything the Al Bhed could develop now.

Annoyingly, fiends from the desert had managed to get inside the building, causing minor complications. Rikku also found the massive hole in the centre of each level to be very unnerving, as it appeared to be a _very_ long drop to the bottom.

_Ah ha! D7!_ Rikku shined the light onto a sign that read 'D7' in plain Spiran, before stepping inside it. The first thing she noticed was the broken door, followed by the obvious emptiness of it, as if no one had ever been inside it. However, the door had fallen into the room, so someone had tried to get in from the outside corridor, possibly for Sonnet. If Tidus was right about the pod though, they would have needed some lifting equipment to be able to carry it out and to Bevelle.

[Rikku, can you hear me?] The voice from her radio surprised her.

"Hiya Akyema," Rikku pressed her radio earpiece and replied to the voice of her childhood friend, "I didn't know you were out here."

[Yeah. I came out two days ago. I wanted to examine the architecture of this place! A metal building that can survive underground in a desert is worth studying.]

Akyema was unusual among the Al Bhed, as she was more interested, and skilled, in building designs than machina. A lot of her research had utilised in the gradual rebuilding of Home, after the Vegnagun Incident.

"Have you found anything interesting?"

[Yes, we have. The internal supports are coated with a substance that seems to increase their tensile strength. I imagine this place was airtight before Cid found it, which may have helped it to survive for so long.]

"Maybe, but that other building that was used as the shell for the Home rebuild was at least 1,000 years old as well, and I don't think that had been buried." Rikku left the latest cell that she had been checking during her conversation. Other than a thick layer of dust, which was notably missing in D7, all of them were empty. It seemed like Sonnet had indeed been contained in there before Bevelle somehow found her. There was no sign on the top level of any additional entry points though, which puzzled Rikku.

"Have you found any machina?" She asked.

[Some, why?]

"I'm curious about the old ways of generating energy. Some of the machina under Bevelle contains batteries that are far beyond what we're capable of making, and we know that's at least 1,000 years old too."

_Maybe a generator in here can be modified for Sonnet. If she was first found here, there must be some similarities._ Rikku mused.

[Oh yes, you're mapping the Bevelle Underground, aren't you. I bet that's interesting. And what's a battery?]

"It is, and I mean energy cells. Tidus calls them batteries," Rikku finished following the curve of the corridor and reached a staircase heading down, "Can you show me this machina please?"

[On one condition.]

"Go on."

[Help me find the control room afterwards.]

"Ok, but I thought you said you were here for the construction?"

[I am, and where better to find design plans than in a control room, which this prison must have somewhere?]

"Ok, done."

[I'm on the sixth floor down. Meet me at the stairs.] Rikku could tell that her friend was smiling.

Rikku glared at her machina light as she headed towards Akyema, as the light was gradually fading. She half wished that the Machine Faction had been able to fully understand and make them, so that she could have just taken a few of them, rather than one, and a few flame torches for backup.

Small energy cells were something that the Al Bhed had been able to easily make for a long time now, and Rikku knew that they would be adaptable for these machina lights once they were fully understood.

Rikku then decided to send a few samples to the Faction for their research, but also keep a couple for herself for possible use on Sonnet if they proved to be similar enough. As a last resort, she would also bring Gippal into their circle regarding Machina Lady and see if he could help. While he was annoying, he was skilled with machina, but she didn't trust him to not take over either.

_If he can stop drooling long enough to actually work!_ She thought, as Gippal's eyes did have a habit of wandering.

Descending a second staircase, she spotted Akyema waiting for her at the bottom in the near darkness. In typical Al Bhed fashion, Akyema was clad in a beige coloured bodysuit and dark grey boots. Unlike Rikku, who liked bizarre hairstyles, Akyema kept hers in a simple ponytail.

Rikku couldn't resist jumping down the last few steps, and grabbing her friend in strong hug, being careful of the flame torches that they both carried.

"How've you been Aky?" Rikku had to ask as she hadn't seen her childhood friend for a couple of months.

"Busy. I've been continuing my research into architecture and design. I'm hoping that all homes in Spira will eventually have electrical lights and heating, as well as plumbing. Like Bevelle and Luca already have."

"That's a great vision, but I don't think it would be accepted so easily."

"No, probably not, but it is personal choice, I wouldn't force these changes. Besaid, for example, seems to be happy as it is."

Akyema then gestured towards an alcove a short distance away that hadn't been on any of the other levels:

"The machina seemed to have been contained in these things. Some are still intact too, which is surprising."

She then lead Rikku into a large room which was split into numerous sections, containing more machina, and…

"What is that smell?" Rikku almost gagged.

"It's improved somewhat now that there is fresher air getting into this place," Akyema wasn't affected by it, "And I think it's coming from those cages."

Rikku spun around, aiming her flame torch at the indicated wall space. Within the cages, she saw numerous pieces of skeletons from a variety of creatures.

"Are they…fiend remains?" Her voice now carried the confusion she felt.

"Looks that way. And no, I haven't a clue either."

"Spooky, fiends that didn't become pyreflies."

Rikku's concerns where quickly forgotten as Akyema pointed out several machina, which she moved to and examined with renewed enthusiasm.


	12. Chapter 12: Optimism

Chapter Twelve: Optimism

Rikku returned to Home the following day with several samples of energy cells and a hand drawn copy, courtesy of Akyema, of the layout of the prison building. The two of them had located the control room, or rather its remains and used a diagram on the wall outside as a basis for the copy Rikku now carried. Her friend had read "Tower C" underneath the diagram, which suggested to them that there were two other buildings that made up this prison. Weather or not they were still around now was open to investigation, but there had definitely been three buildings comprising it in ages past.

Reaching her workshop, she unlocked the door and slipped inside, taking her "samples" bag into the small bedroom and placing them next to Sonnet's body. Rikku now knew from the note that Sonnet's heart had something to do with her energy supply, but she had yet to examine her innards, as she was reluctant to remove any of her "skin" in case it couldn't be replaced and not wanting Sonnet to have to live in seclusion as exposed metal skin and limbs wouldn't go un-noticed.

_There's no point in reviving her if she has to stay out of sight. Even with the Eternal Calm and its changes, I don't think Spira would take well to a machina-human._

Promising herself that she would keep the removal to a minimum, Rikku retrieved a small blade from her tool kit and started examining the exposed hand again, looking for energy lines. Although she would easily know what she was looking for around Home, or even Bevelle or Luca, it soon became apparent to her that whatever technology had been used for Sonnet was completely different.

_So much for following one to its source._ She inwardly complained, as now she was going to have to improvise.

Hoping that Sonnet's heart, or whatever machina that fulfilled that same function was in the same place as a human heart, Rikku removed the sheet and neatly folded it before reaching to her side to unzip the long uniform style sleeveless tunic that Sonnet had been wearing in the pod and then peeling the upper layer to one side. Once that was done she pressed the blade against the "skin" recalling how easily she had been able to cut into it previously. As it slid into her belly, Rikku suddenly released it and spun to the entrance of the room.

"I mean no harm," the figure stood there with her hands raised, "But I'm wondering if you would find it easier to cut into her back?"

"You can tell what I'm attempting?" Skye nodded, "You might be right, but her spine is probably in the same place as ours, and that would get in the way. I don't want to risk damaging anything that we have no chance of replacing and injuring her."

"A fair point," Skye cast her eyes over the prone form again, "do you really think you can do this?"

"Yes Skye, I do. Could you pass me that magnifying lens please?"

As Rikku placed the strap around her head and the lens over her right eye, she glanced to Skye:

"Why are you still here anyway? I thought you would be at your office in Luca?"

"Paine suggested that I assist you with her," Skye shook her head, causing the dark red curtain behind her to swing back and forth, "For some reason I have a better understanding of machina that she or Yuna does."

"Any idea how that is?" Rikku remembered that Paine had said she would ask Skye to help her.

"Nope. I just do, somehow."

A few minutes past as Rikku tried to decide if there was a better place to cut into Sonnet's "skin" than on her stomach, when Skye spoke again:

"I wonder if she was ever human. I keep thinking that there are two possibilities."

"Which are?"

"Either she was once human, and was somehow changed into this for some reason. Or she was built like a machina would be, yet given a human appearance for some other reason?"

Rikku then decided how to possibly locate an energy line without cutting, yet, and considered Skye's thinking:

"I'm guessing your first possibility, based on those two messages that we found. This," She tapped the metal hand, "Could be the "complications" that both of them spoke of."

"Either way, she's in what most people would consider fantastic shape, and I envy her height. I guess that's something to ask her when we wake her up again?"

"Something else, yes," Rikku returned the smile, "Ah ha! Gotcha!"

Her exclamation led to her grabbing a pair of tongs, reaching into a small gap in the hand, and lifting them out with what appeared to be a very thin transparent tube clamped between them.

"Ok, ok, I can't lose this as I've not seen any others so far."

"That's an energy line?"

"Yep, and it's the only visible one I've found," She repeated, "Now, let me see…"

A period of silence descended on the room as Rikku followed the energy line up Sonnet's arm while cutting away pieces of skin as she deemed it necessary.

_I hope she has a way to replace that!_ Skye thought of the obvious holes in the silver haired woman's arm and chest. Much to Skye's surprise though, Rikku was being very surgical in her actions, only cutting thin channels into the skin along the path that she believed the energy line to follow, and it apparently did. Skye made a mental note to ask her how she knew where to cut as a frown passed over Rikku's face.

"Problem?"

"I'm not sure. The line under her skin seems to have stopped," She gently pulled at the line, but Skye still couldn't tell how she knew, "Hold the line for a minute will you? I need both hands."

Skye continued observing as Rikku put the slender cutting blade down, and reached underneath the "skin". She had to remind herself that the body on the table wasn't a human one, and had no internal organs to consider, as Rikku's face went through numerous expressions as she poked around inside it, examining her innards by touch alone. As she retrieved the blade and cut out a diamond shape just under Sonnet's chest, she had to comment.

"I'm glad we're not doing this on a human body, you would be on your own for that."

"Squeamish?"

"Very."

"Understandable. I probably would be too. Since she is more machina than person though, I can do this. Shine the light just there please." She pointed to the diamond shaped hole.

Skye did so, only keeping her hand steady by looking ahead and keeping Sonnet's body in her lower peripheral vision. She automatically looked down when she heard a series of clicking sounds, and was fascinated by the small rectangular shape that Rikku removed from within.

"Is that it?"

"I think so; I've seen similar ones in the Underground, although they were much smaller."

"Ok, so what's your next move?"

"Compare this against those in that bag, and see if anything works."

"Could it really be that simple to revive her?"

"Won't know until I try!"

"Where did…?"

"The prison building pops found. There's plenty old machina there, a lot of it still salvageable. I figured that she was more important than a dozen combat robots."

"How do you know that she's safe to reactivate?"

"You sound like Paine," Rikku rolled her eyes, "Don't worry; we've got a plan for that once Yunie gets here."

Skye decided not to point out that Rikku appeared to be planning ahead too much, as she might not find a "sample" that matched the one she had propped between Sonnet's arm and torso.

_What if these samples are drained too?_

"Rikku, wait."

The blonde stopped as she was about to start rummaging through the bag.

"If you can't find a similar one, why don't you try recharging that one? Paine said that it worked using magic in the Underground."

"Fantastic idea Skye!" Rikku snapper her fingers, "Why didn't I think of that? Could you hold it, I'll switch and…"

"No, not yet," Skye cautioned, "You mentioned a plan?"

"Yeah, a simple one: we lock her in a cell and recharge her before securing the door. We then stand guard outside with her weapons. If she turns out to be unfriendly, then she is contained!"

"And you release her if she's friendly."

"Right! We'll try your idea first. Once Yunie's back, we'll move her to a cell and I'll cast Thunder a few times. Once she starts moving, I leave it and we lock her in until we can tell if she is friendly."

"That sounds like a plan, but let me do the recharging."

"What, you know magic?"

Skye opened her hand with a flourish and a few Thunder arcs jumped between her fingers as she drew a semi circle in the air.

"Only some basic Black Magic. Nothing really powerful. As you four are better fighters, I know you'll be able to protect me if she turns out to be hostile."

_If a simple Thunder spell is enough._ Skye had her doubts that it would be that easy, after all nothing worthwhile ever was.


	13. Chapter 13: Escalation

Chapter Thirteen: Escalation

Asuka ducked under the horizontal swipe and kicked out at Rinoa's shins. To her surprise, Rinoa jumped back, causing her to miss. It did grant Asuka sufficient time to dive to the side and reclaim her katana from the ground where it had ended up a few minutes prior.

As she pulled it from the soil, she threw a casual salute in Rinoa's direction before gripping it with both hands.

"You're faster than I thought!" She called.

Rinoa grinned and returned the salute, which would have been a fatal move had this been a genuine battle and not a training spar.

As this round had progressed, Asuka had begun to notice a flaw in how she attacked, mainly because Alicia often used the same trick to disarm her that the brunette had used after less than a week of sparring. On the positive side, it demonstrated that the former Instructor was a fast learner. She had also taken Asuka's advice, as black leather gloves now adorned her hands, contrasting with her blue arm warmers.

_I need to work on that and find a way to not leave myself open, as I seem to suffer from it often! Maybe Instructor Ives can advise?_ Said Instructor was observing the duel again, making no effort to keep a smile from her face this time.

Taking a few large steps to her left, while also spinning her sword around backwards around her wrist, hoping to keep Rinoa guessing about her moves so that she could test something that she had noticed earlier. Holding one hand in front of her, she ran towards Rinoa, slipping from side to side so that she would have to keep guessing before she feinted a strike at Rinoa's shoulder. As the grey blade moved to block, as expected, she twisted her wrist and targeted her knees. To her credit, that was partially blocked, but not enough to prevent a deep cut along her shin.

Asuka held her sword in guard position as she stood up and moved away. If Rinoa wanted to strike her now, she would have to move closer.

_And that won't be easy with your blood flowing like that. Give it another minute or two, and you'll be down._

The pale skinned Sorceress did indeed have a deep red line below her knee, and Asuka was sure that the inside of her boot wouldn't be very pleasant later on.

_I guess I was right; she seems to be unwilling to use magic! Does that mean the Bangle isn't working, or is she just unwilling to risk using magic of her magnitude?_

Asuka held her guard for almost a minute before Rinoa charged at her, a little slower than before, the redhead's trained eyes being able to spot the slight drag on her right foot.

As she approached, she spun her sword around her wrist, and then joined both hands on the handle as she lifted it above her head for what would have been a powerful vertical strike. Asuka predicted it though, and placed her left hand on the side of her own black blade with the sharp edge pointing to the floor; she held a horizontal guard and deflected the strike towards the ground. Coupled with her injury, this caused her to stagger, putting all of her weight onto her uninjured side.

_Gotcha!_ Asuka thought as she dashed forwards and struck at Rinoa, but managing to get her blade inside Rinoa's arm before twisting her sword and wrenching it from her hands. It was a much cruder form of how Rinoa had disarmed her earlier. Keeping a smirk from her face as the blade hit the ground; she placed her own against Rinoa's neck.

Her eyes wide, but smiling, Rinoa raised her hands.

"You keep surprising me."

Asuka withdrew her sword and held it at her side, before picking up Rinoa's and returning it to her.

"Get used to it. I've been doing this for a long time, and have plenty of surprises hidden away."

"You are progressing quickly Rinoa," Instructor Ives announced, "And you are very fast when you move. Is that part of…?"

"No, they are blocked. My speed is natural, not magic enhanced."

"I see. Impressive speed and co-ordination, regardless of how you gained them," Ives smiled, "And I'm glad I didn't have to intervene this time."

Rinoa looked sheepish while Asuka kept her face neutral, as they had got carried away in their last spar and, according to the Instructor, looked like they were going to kill each other. She had moved between them and blocked both of their strikes without fully drawing her Corusca Blade. Rinoa had been blocked using what little of her sword she had drawn from the sheath, while she had stood on Asuka's blade with her boot, trapping it on the floor. Once they had backed off, she too stepped back and ended the spar.

"Is that why you are still observing?" Rinoa queried.

"Not really, I like watching how you've progressed," She turned to Asuka, "And to see if you can invent any new techniques from your field experiences."

"You've seen most of what I've learned or developed since graduation." Asuka admitted as she cast a weak Cure spell to heal Rinoa's shin.

"Oh thank you, that saves me from visiting the Infirmary."

"It's a clever way to weaken opponent though. Blood loss can have many side effects in a very short time."

"So she showed me." Rinoa had a slight wince on her face.

"It's not really something you can really protect against though," Instructor Ives continued, "Katana blades are sharp enough to cut through most clothing and the skin beneath."

"No point in changing your outfit then." Asuka quipped.

"I suppose not." Rinoa smiled.

"Right, I'll see you both next time then." Asuka saluted the Instructor, and nodded to Rinoa before heading towards the Garden building. She had a phone call that she wanted to make:

_It's taken a while, but I think we are getting on like we used to, if not better,_ Asuka mused as she approached the dorms, _and all we had to do was fight, how ironic!_

Grabbing her phone as she shrugged out of her coat and tossed it onto her bed, she searched out the correct phone number and pressed send, hoping that her adoptive brother was at his Dollet home, and not visiting his parents in Deling City.

* * *

After Asuka left, Rinoa headed to the Library to borrow a book that she had had her eye on for a time. As her eyes scanned the shelves, she thought about her current situation:

_A lot of Balamb Garden and the people in it don't care that I'm a Sorceress. Those that do have left or are keeping quiet. Squall's paranoia might not be as paranoid as it first sounded, as some of the people here could be plotting against me. Damn it to Hyne! He's finally passed that trait on to me._

Her musing was interrupted as she spotted the book she wanted, which she grabbed and headed for the desk. Naturally, she couldn't get there as her ear started buzzing.

"Angelo." She muttered as to not disturb the others in the Library, but loud enough for the microphone to detect.

**[Rinoa, please come upstairs immediately!]** Quistis's voice said before the link was cut off.

_What's going on now?_ She wondered as she checked her book out, and headed out of the Library at a brisk pace.

* * *

"Are you certain about this?" Squall asked the man who had apparently insisted on personally brining him a report from Esthar Military Intelligence regarding the ASR planning an assault on Balamb Garden using modern weapons and mechs.

"I'm certain, Laguna allowed me to read it before I handed it into you. I promise you that no one else outside of Laguna, Kiros, Ward, and me has read the contents."

"So why deliver it yourself?"

"Because I want to help you all," He looked around the gathered people, before looking at his old friend/rival, "We've had our disagreements in the past, but you don't deserve to be treated as you are in some places because of unfortunate circumstances." His gaze drifted to Rinoa as he spoke of circumstances.

"The world seems to be mostly willing to leave me alone after my part in the Ultimecia Incident, so what can't they leave you alone? You wouldn't harm anyone unless they attacked you first, even before you became a Sorceress."

"I appreciate that Seifer," Rinoa smiled at the "courier", "But I alone can't accept your offer. We're all in this together."

"I know you Commander," Seifer pointed to the folder in Squall's hands, "You had a plan prepared in case something like that was to happen."

"Yes, but not on this scale. How did the ASR get so many weapons so quickly?"

"Small purchases, one or two units at a time over the last two years," Seifer explained, "The large planned purchases were a smokescreen to draw attention away from the smaller activities. It's obvious when you think about it."

"And a textbook decoy manoeuvre," Squall acknowledged, resisting the urge to bury his face in his hands, "We vote on this: who accepts Seifer's offer of help with Last Resort?"

A knock on the door stopped the vote before it could be taken:

"Commander?" His aide called through it, "Instructors Ives and Shepherd are here to see you. Apparently you asked for them?"

Squall moved from the desk to the door, thanked his aide, and let the two Instructors in. He moved back to his desk, and tried to move Seifer from his new seat, perched on the corner of it, but the older man shook his head and stayed put. Squall rolled his eyes and leaned back against it.

"Commander," Instructor Jason Shepherd saluted, Ives doing so a second later, "You asked to see us?"

"Yes. I need to ask you both a few questions, and I would appreciate honest answers."

Both Instructors nodded their consent, and Ives looked to Seifer:

"Mr Almasy, you're the last person I expected to see in here."

"Nice to see you too, dear Instructor," He smirked, "Don't worry, I'm not here for anything SeeD related, this is about friends."

"I don't understand, what's going on sir?" Shepherd asked.

"What is your opinion about Rinoa being a Sorceress?"

"It doesn't bother me sir," Ives answered first; "You've never harmed anyone, so why should you be considered a threat?"

"Shepherd?"

"Honestly? The fact that she is a Sorceress does concern me. She could be biding her time to build up a power base, and then conquer the world. However, I've looked into her eyes before, and unless she's had a personality transplant, or something equally unlikely, I don't see her personally as the type to want to take over anything."

He looked to Squall:

"The fact that she has a Knight supports that argument."

"Ok…so neither of you agree with the ASR?"

"Not a chance!"

"They're fools chasing a foolish quest. The power of a Sorceress cannot be contained: when the current holder dies, the power passes onto someone else."

"We understand," Quistis took over after a nod from Squall, "and we have a plan ready in case she ever does change her stripes."

"Instructor Ives, Instructor Shepherd," Squall took control again, "If the ASR were to attack Balamb Garden in an attempt to get Rinoa, where would you both stand?"

"I take it this isn't hypothetical?" Ives asked what they were both apparently wondering.

"No."

"I didn't think so," She stood upright and saluted; "I offer you my support Commander! Whatever you need in the event of an attack, I will endeavour to provide."

"Shepherd?"

"I'm with you sir, you've never given us a reason to consider you a threat." He looked to Rinoa before saluting Squall.

"Are you both certain? You could be kicked out of SeeD if we lose. Or worse."

"Thank you," He returned their salute as they both nodded, "I hope we're just overreacting here, but still... Seifer?"

"Yeah?"

"You were right in guessing that we have a plan in case we get attacked. We could use your support as well."

Quistis cleared her throat and addressed the room: "Before he answers that, would any of you not accept his help?"

No one raised their hand to object, not even Zell, which surprised Seifer.

"Excellent. Nothing to say Seifer?" She teased.

"Not now. We have work to do."

"Right." Squall handed Seifer a pile of folders, he took the top one and passed the pile to Quistis. She then passed it to Irvine. This continued until everyone had a copy.

"This is Operation Fallback, our plan for what we will do in the event of an ASR attack, and Garden is at serious risk."

"It must be a serious plan with a name like that." Ives quipped, but started reading her copy once she realised that no one else was smiling.


	14. Chapter 14: New Possibilities

Disclaimer: Just in case I've not put this in any previous chapters: **None of the characters in this story are mine, and therefore they belong to their respective owners. I'm simply borrowing them for the mad idea that this story (and its prequel) started out as.**

Chapter Fourteen: New Possibilities

Nearly a week had passed since Rikku and Skye had located Sonnet's energy source. It had, unsurprisingly, been drained for a long time, and none of the "samples" that Rikku had appropriated from the prison were similar at all. This eliminated her idea of simply swapping them. They had tried to use Thunder magic to recharge it, but she had only twitched slightly after it was reconnected. Even after they had exhausted their mana supply, she had barely moved. Now, they were out of ideas, and Rikku was seriously considering calling Gippal in to assist, as he could keep his mouth shut if he had incentive.

"It's a shame that such knowledge has been lost over time," Skye sadly said to the group, "Imagine what we could do with machina like that."

"Which?"

"Both, but her power supply would be useful. Imagine something like that in every home, allowing artificial light whenever it became too dark or portable heating devices for when it got too cold instead of a fireplace, or…"

"We get the idea," Tidus gently interrupted, "I'm from the old Zanarkand, remember, devices like what you envisage could be found all over the city."

"We can't help her though," Rikku was frustrated; "Nothing from the prison will work for her."

"We did check around her chamber in the Underground," Yuna reminded them, "And we couldn't find anything like that."

"You also checked in the chamber that we found her in?" Paine's voice asked over the ship's comm. sphere.

"You were there Paine, all that was in there was her, in her pod."

"Maybe, but Yevon had a talent for hiding things. Bevelle could have been the same before Yevon came to power. Could there be a hidden area in that chamber?"

"Wait, wait, wait, you're suggesting a secret compartment, _inside_ a secret room?"

"Worth a look!" Rikku moved to the front of the bridge, looking out over Bevelle, "Should we go now?"

"Not yet Rikku," Yuna smiled at the re-emergence of her cousins usual enthusiasm, "Paine, how soon can you get to Bevelle?"

"By tonight. This academic crew should be set up in a couple of hours."

"Very well, we will return to the Underground in the morning. While the three of us are mapping, our resident thief will examine Sonnet's chamber."

"Sounds like a plan!" Tidus cheered.

"See you soon." Paine nodded as she cut the comm. sphere connection.

"Yunie, Paine had a good idea, but what if it was Sonnet who made any hidden compartments?"

"Then why did she lock herself into the pod? If she had spares, why wouldn't she use them?"

"She probably didn't have many, and she might have wanted out," Tidus speculated, "From what we know, Bevelle manipulated her into working for them and then sealed her down there when she couldn't achieve one of their goals."

"She _was_ a prisoner!" Yuna gasped.

"Right and what prisoner doesn't want to be free? Especially if they know they are not at fault?"

"So she let herself die in case she was ever found?" Rikku added.

"Why not? If she thought she would be found someday, she could have thought that her spare cells would be found too?"

"It's crazy, but not impossible," Yuna conceded after a moment's thought, "But I don't think you should get your hopes up."

"Too late, Rikku's always got high hopes."

"Oi!" Said blonde called from Buddy's station, but didn't disagree.

"There is something I've been thinking about too, regarding her pod. You said it was used for medical treatment, yes?"

"Yep." Tidus wondered where Yuna was going with her thoughts.

"What if the women in the messages were not telling the truth?"

"What do you mean Yunie?"

"Both said that the pod slowed Sonnet's aging, but not how. What if it is her being part machina that affects her aging?"

"Why would they lie? Everything else in them seems to be the truth."

"I'm not sure, but it has been in my mind for some time. Do you know how to use it?"

"Nope, sorry. I only ever saw them from the inside when I woke up."

"Could you figure it out?"

"Maybe Yunie, but we can also add it to the list for Sonnet, once she's restored."

"What makes you think that she will…?" Yuna's question died on her lips as she recalled the apparent journal that they had found in the Underground.

"We really need to revive her." She said instead.

"Yes you do." Skye's voice suddenly sounded, reminding the others that she was in the room.

"What's wrong?" Tidus hadn't missed her change in demeanour.

"I've just remembered another dream from a few nights ago. Whoever Sonnet used to be, she was a soldier of some sort in the past."

"What makes you…?"

"She was one of many wearing a uniform like the blonde in that message," Skye interrupted Yuna's question, closing her eyes, "Passing through a large open area with 8 different pathways branching from the central circle like points on a compass. There was also a machina platform in the centre of the area."

"That was a detailed dream." Yuna observed.

"It's like I was there. I can't explain how, but it did feel like that."

"The reasons to help her keep piling up don't they?" Rikku tried to sound casual, "(1) for the knowledge that she has in her head, which could be of historical value to Spira. (2) To find out what happened to her before and during her service to Bevelle. (3) To learn about her as a person. (4) Maybe she could help us identify a lot of the old machina that we've recovered and can only guess at its function. (5)…"

"We get the idea," Skye rolled her eyes; "We did agree to restore her, remember?"

"I hope she's not hostile to us." Skye then cautioned.

* * *

"Any luck?" Tidus leaned against the doorframe.

"Not since it was last your turn to ask." Rikku replied, although she had made a lot of progress in mapping the room, three of the walls had been covered with green and red strips of paper to indicate a clear area, or a possible hollow area.

"Maybe one of us should assist you."

"Nah, I can do this. Besides, you'd disrupt my system."

"You're using a system?"

"Ha ha," She didn't take his bait, "I know what I'm doing buddy, and where I'm up to, so please leave me to work."

"All right, have fun." He vanished, leaving the Al Bhed to work in relative silence.

Looking over the marked walls one more time, she decided to leave the one with the door until later, as she doubted there would be a hidden compartment in that wall in case it could be accessed from the corridor. Somehow, that seemed unlikely to her. Taking a small magnifying glass from her pouch, she began a close inspection of the potentially hollow areas.

_How could a secret compartment be opened?_ She wondered, having no doubt that something had to be hidden in here somewhere, even though the initial idea had been Paine's.

The first five areas she checked didn't reveal any recesses, indents, switches, or buttons that could open a hidden compartment. As she examined the 6th area, close to the floor, she thought back to how they had found the chamber in the first place.

* * *

"_**We'll never finish this." Rikku complained as they returned to Vegnagun's Chamber, their agreed "command post".**_

"_**Don't moan, you agreed to this too." Paine admonished as the door to that Chamber came into view.**_

"_**I thought it'd be fun, lots of machina to investigate. But this place is HUGE," She swung her arms out at this point, "We'll never finish mapping."**_

"_**If we can find something of value, Baralai might make this a public project, asking more people to work on it."**_

"_**That would help. Rikku's right; this is too much for just the three of us."**_

_**Said blonde looked at Yuna, and then giggled causing Yuna to return the look.**_

"_**You can't help it can you Yunie?" She copied Yuna by placing her hands behind her head as she walked, as Tidus often did.**_

_**Blushing, Yuna held her hands out to her sides instead. As she passed a row of wall lamps, her hand brushed across all three, emitting a musical chime. A short rumble was then heard as a wall section next to Paine slid down into the floor, stirring up dust in the process.**_

"_**What the…?" Yuna jumped back, coughing briefly before drawing her guns and thumbing the safety locks off in one smooth motion. Rikku and Paine had drawn their blades faster, and had pointed them at the revealed door.**_

"_**Well, well, a secret room?" Paine ventured towards the opening.**_

"_**What's inside?" Rikku took a few steps towards the door before Paine stopped her.**_

"_**You'll need a torch."**_

"_**Got one," Rikku grinned back, fishing a thin tube from her pocket, "Borrowed from the ship, just in case."**_

_**An equally thin beam of light came from one end of the tube, and the Al Bhed aimed into the newly revealed room, before entering it. Without speaking, Yuna and Paine stood just outside, attempting to see what the torch was illuminating.**_

_**It was rectangular shaped with the doorway in the centre of one of the longer walls. At the far end of the room, the wall took on a convex shape, cluing the Gullwings into its position.**_

"_**It seems to be built alongside Vegnagun's Chamber," Rikku called, "I wonder why?"**_

"_**What's that?" Paine called as Rikku panned the torch around, a large shape catching her eyes.**_

"_**No idea, it looks like a container of some sort. Why would Bevelle need to hide...what the…?"**_

"_**Rikku, what can you see?"**_

"_**It's not a container, more like a machina coffin."**_

_**Yuna and Paine cautiously approached the shape, following the torchlight to a see-through section of what was apparently a lid.**_

"_**Why would there be a woman's body in here?" Yuna asked what they were all thinking, "She looks a little like Lady Yunalesca, but Bevelle wouldn't keep the body of someone from Zanarkand hidden away."**_

"_**I don't think she's dead Yuna. Rikku, would you point that torch over here?"**_

_**She did so, illuminating a series of blinking lights set onto some sort of control board. Most were red, but a few were green.**_

"_**Ok, whatever this thing is," Rikku agreed with Paine, "It isn't a coffin. Maybe she's asleep inside it."**_

"_**Can you open it?"**_

"_**Not here," Rikku shook her head, "If we could get it back to Home and my workshop, I can examine it better."**_

"_**And her?"**_

"_**And her, if I can open it."**_

* * *

There was no similar row of lamps inside the room. That was one of the first things that Rikku had checked for after setting up a work light powerful enough to illuminate the whole room. She had also tried to think in the same context as Sonnet to find any hidden compartment, but had quickly realised how unlikely that idea was to work after four failed guesses. Dropping to her knees near her 6th marked area, she gently tapped against the metal wall. It did sound slightly hollow, but she couldn't see any holes or other methods of opening it if it was. Placing her palm flat against it, she pushed, hearing a _click_ that encouraged her.

The smile fell from her face as the door slid up into the ceiling again and sealed her in. Looking back at the apparent switch, she pressed it again to no effect. Reaching up to her neck, she pressed the transmit button on her radio.

"Yunie, Paine, Tidus. Can anyone hear me?"

[Found anything Rikku?] Yuna's voice returned.

"Not yet," Rikku knew she would get teased for this, but they would have found out sooner or later, "Could one of you come back and open the door?"

[You locked yourself in?] Tidus almost sounded incredulous.

"I pressed a switch that closes the door, and it only seems to do that."

She heard someone laughing, before Yuna's voice returned:

[We're on our way, give us 15 minutes.]

"Roger that." She pressed the button again and resumed examining the marked points on the wall.

Upon checking her 9th marked point, she found a hidden compartment that opened in the same way as the inner door lock, the panel covering it sliding away as she pressed her hand against it.

"Woo hoo!" She cheered to herself as she gently removed what looked like a pouch from the compartment that was barely longer than her forearm.

It was made from leather, or something similar, and was a silver-blue in colour. Given it could easily be as old as Sonnet, it was in remarkable condition. Carefully taking it closer to her work light, she could only see a few small tears and a finger sized hole in the material.

"You found something?" Paine's voice carried across the room.

"Yep," Rikku looked to them, "And that was quick."

"Nope, you zoned out."

"Whatcha find?"

Placing it down on the floor, she carefully opened the flap she could see on the pouch, and shined her torch inside. Smiling, she removed a metal container similar to those that had contained the two message devices.

"Looks familiar," She mused to herself, "Can someone pass me the hammer?"

She felt the tool be pressed into her hand, and she promptly used it to break the lock on the container. Cautiously lifting the lid, she smiled widely at the sight of four slots cut into some foam like material. Two were empty indents, but the other two contained devices that looked incredibly similar to the power cell that she had removed from Sonnet's spine.

"Are they "batteries"?"

"Yep!" Rikku sounded happier than usual as she answered her cousin, "They look like the one I took out of her too!"

"Heading back then?"

"Are you ok to?"

"Yeah, we'd covered the agreed area before you trapped yourself in here."

"Ok, let's go!" Rikku jumped up and packed up her equipment, but left the paper markers in place for whenever she returned to the room.

Yuna tapped the lights once they had cleared the room, camouflaging the entrance and allowing them to continue to the surface lift.

"Do you have any ideas in case this doesn't work? Since the recharging plan didn't."

"Nope, this'll work!"

"That's what you said about the Thunder recharge." Paine pointed out as they stepped onto the lift.

"True, but I feel certain about this. It's time for the Machina Lady to awaken."


	15. Chapter 15: Revolutionary Awakening

Chapter Fifteen: Revolutionary Awakening

The following morning all but Rikku were outside a prison cell within Home and were watching with a mix of curiosity, concern, and wonder as Rikku connected one of the devices that they had found in the hidden room to the links within Sonnet's spine. Remarkably, there were a lot of similarities, enough for Rikku to be able to work out what went where. Once the connections were done, she slid the power cell into the slot on Sonnet's spine, the fact that it easily fitted made her all the more convinced that it was going to work, before covering her with the green blanket and vacating the cell.

"Now what?" Tidus asked as Paine locked the door and concealed the key.

"Wait, and hope it works." Rikku used her Garment Grid to activate her Black Mage powers, and Yuna followed her example.

"How long?"

"I don't know. Those message devices didn't take long, but they were primitive compared to her."

After a few minutes of inactivity, Skye took a drink from a water pouch, which she passed around the group before sliding down to the floor and turning her gaze into the cell. Paine simply stood with her arms folded and her sword in easy reach. Yuna leaned back against the wall, her palms pressed against the metal surface. Tidus mimicked her after a few more minutes of inactivity, and slid his hand into hers. Rikku began pacing up and down the corridor, glancing into the cell every time she turned around.

"I'm getting hungry, should we go and eat?"

"We can't leave her…"

"Her hand moved." Paine interrupted, her words turning all eyes onto the prone form resting on the cell cot. Only her right side could be seen from their position, and with Sonnet's hand lying flat next to her over the blanket and the fingers curling inwards to their different points.

"Are you sure?" Rikku hadn't seen any movement.

"Positive, almost like a twitch."

* * *

A hazy black field completely encompassed her vision, making her wonder if she was still underground, or if her optics were destroyed. Her initial diagnostics promptly scrolled across the black in bright text. Blue was used for the name of each of her components, while red, yellow, or green was used to indicate the overall condition of each component as a percentage.

Core CPU = 94.32%

Left Optic = 96.70%

Right Optic = 100.00%

Left Audio Receptor = 99.42%

Right Audio Receptor = 97.51%

Infrared Emitter = 87.62%

Ultra Violet Emitter = Offline

Night Vision Emitter = 91.32%

Motor Control [Left Arm] = 86.18%

Motor Control [Right Arm] = 89.62%

Motor Control [Left Hand] = 84.91%

Motor Control [Right Hand] = 87.64%

Motor Control [Left Leg] = 93.22%

Motor Control [Right Leg] = 94.47%

Motor Control [Left Foot] = 91.44%

Motor Control [Right Foot] = 96.29%

Motor Control [Neck] = 73.28%

Motor Control [Head] = 80.09%

Nanite Interface 01 [Scalp] = Offline

Nanite Interface 02 [Neck] = Offline

Nanite Interface 03 [Left Shoulder] = Offline

Nanite Interface 04 [Right Shoulder] = Offline

Nanite Interface 05 [Left Hip] = Offline

Nanite Interface 06 [Right Hip] = Offline

Power Cell Capacity = 66.87%

Overall Status = 64.38%

CONDITION: AVERAGE

Without opening her optics, she flexed the fingers of her hands, noting two unusual elements in the process.

1) She was lying on her stomach, where as she lay on her back when she returned to the pod,

2) She could hear 5 different heartbeats nearby.

_This is different. I am no longer in the pod. Did someone finally locate me?_

Accessing her memories, she recalled that her name was Sonnet, and that she was a cyborg. Linked to this was a series of maintenance procedures, and the knowledge that she had locked herself into a stasis pod as she was close to death.

"_Nanite Interface", what is that?_ She wondered, before searching through her memories for that and two other pieces of information, getting negative results for two, leaving her none the wiser as to how long she had been waking up, and then returning to the pod for another year.

_So I can function for another 42 years at minimal activities with this power cell. Good, maybe I can find or build more in that time._

Her immediate plans made, she focussed on the voices that she could now hear accompanying the heartbeats.

"Keep quiet! Let her wake up before we start asking questions."

So the people close by could tell that she was online again. It was highly possible that they were responsible for her reactivation. Opening her optics, she took in the sight of a metal sand coloured wall, before she turned her head 180º to her right while keeping her body still. She could now see a wall of vertical bars, with 4 women and 1 man on the other side.

_A cell. These people are cautious, but that will not hold me if I wanted to escape._

She carefully used her right hand to brush her silver hair from her face, noting the lack of skin, and that she appeared to be wearing the same uniform of those who had tricked her into protecting…

…_What? What, or who, was I manipulated into protecting?_ She looked at her metal hand again, _and I am sure my hands should not look like that. I was supposed to look like a regular human._

Focussing now on the 5 people on the other side of the bars, she turned so that she could sit up, letting her legs hang over the side of the cot. The uniform was mostly intact, although she could feel and see numerous gaps in the fabric. Reaching behind her, she reclosed the zip at the back of the bodice. As she did so, a flash of something passed across the face of the woman with blonde hair and green eyes.

_Was that guilt for something?_

Sliding off the cot, she cautiously approached the bars, asking:

"Are you the ones I owe my awakening to?"

No verbal reply came, but she saw four pairs of eyes, at different times, glance in the direction of the female blonde, so Sonnet turned her attention specifically to her.

"If you are, then I am in your debt," She looked at the bars again, "I can understand and respect your caution. Is there some way I can prove to you that it isn't necessary? I have no intention or desire to harm you, unless you are a threat to me."

She waved at the bars using her exposed hand. She highly doubted they would release her on just her word, but she was willing to earn both their trust and her freedom. She hoped they were more humane than her former "employers" in that underground city.

Red Eyes glared at her, making no attempt to hide her distrust.

"I gather you also have my sword and guns," Sonnet continued, ignoring her growing feeling that Red Eyes wanted to melt her with that disturbing look alone, "I can appreciate and respect your caution, if you do have them. You would not know that I only fight if I am threatened. I was forced by soldiers in an underground city to protect something very important to them. It was their last resort against a…a Summoner City?"

A fragmented memory had materialised in her brain, of a giant gun, made with a demonic face and containing enough raw firepower to cripple or even destroy Gaia.

_No, that is incorrect;_ she tried to piece together the fragments of memories, as she somehow knew that Gaia wasn't the name of the land, _what is it?_

"I am sorry, but I am unable to remember where those soldiers were from or what they had me protecting."

"I don't believe her," Red Eyes stated, "She's lying, trying to trick us into trusting her. Good luck _Sonnet_."

"Can you tell us anything about Esthar?" The redhead asked.

"A nation on Gaia's Eastern Continent, capital is Esthar City, lead by President Laguna Loire and his cabinet. The city is divided into 24 sectors starting at A-North, progressing to F-North, and repeating for East, South and West. Each sector has an elected Senator representing them in the Esthar Senate." She automatically recited as the information appeared in her mind, while she simultaneously wondered how she knew what she was reciting.

"That's how Zanarkand was run!" The blonde man declared.

"The Summoner City was not run by a Senate." Sonnet heard her voice counter as she continued to wonder where her information was coming from.

"Maybe Dream Zanarkand was also influenced by Esthar City." The speculation came from the brown haired woman.

"If she is telling the truth." Red Eyes pointed out again.

"Why would I lie?" Sonnet shot back, recalling her apparent name from what Red Eyes had called her.

"To trick us into letting you go so that you can kill us. We've seen your weapons."

"I do not kill." Sonnet was inwardly pleased at hearing they did indeed have her weapons.

"Really, why would you…?"

"To defend myself."

"So if a fiend attacked you, you would only injure it?"

_What is a fiend?_ Sonnet wondered while replying, "I would only kill it if there was no other option."

"So you can outrun…"

"Stop it, both of you!" The brunette suddenly demanded, and Sonnet now noticed she had hetrochromia, "This is not getting us anywhere."

Red Eyes kept her hand close to her sword, but stopped her side of the argument. Sonnet did likewise, sitting back on the cot.

"Thank you," she looked to Sonnet, "Can we have a polite conversation without starting an argument?"

"I do not see why not. I am Sonnet."

"So the information was right. I'm Yuna, and for what it's worth, welcome back."

"Thank you, although I have no idea how long I have been offline. But I do appreciate you reviving me."

"You are welcome, but we all played a part in that effort. May I ask you a few questions?"

"Yes, but I can not promise answers," Sonnet stood and strolled to the front of the cell again, "My memories are jumbled."

"All right. Do the names "Zanarkand" or "Bevelle" mean anything to you?"

Sonnet had to think for a few moments this time, before some information flowed into her mind from her cybernetic memory centre. This time she remembered how her memories worked.

"Yes, they are two megacities with opposing views and ways of living. Zanarkand is built on the ocean to the north-east of Mount Gagazet, and they practise magic and Summoning. Bevelle is in the north–west, yet also south from Zanarkand, and they prefer to use machinery rather than magic."

She frowned as more information flowed:

"The last thing I can recall is that both cities were frequently arguing, and I think a war may have started before…"

"Before what?" Yuna politely asked, getting a feeling on uncertainty from Sonnet.

"Before I returned to the pod that I suspect you located me in."

"We did," Yuna verified, and Sonnet was starting to suspect that Yuna was the unofficial leader of the group before her, "As far as we can tell, you've been asleep for over 1,000 years. That is when our history records war breaking out between Zanarkand and Bevelle."

"What was the outcome?"

"Zanarkand was destroyed." The blond man spoke up.

"I see." Sonnet held no genuine allegiance to either city, so the information didn't bother her.

"That doesn't bother you?" Yuna seemed to read her mind, "Thousands of people killed and an entire city lost forever because of the inability of a people to agree on anything!"

"Calm down Yunie, she was as good as dead at the time, so she won't have any memories of then. Especially none of Sin."

"Sin?" Sonnet focussed on the blonde woman, "What is "Sin"?"

"Spira's fear, guilt, greed and sorrow made manifest for 1,000 years."

"This was a living creature? How could such a creature exist?"

"We don't know how, and thankfully never will, only why."

"Would you mind elaborating?"

"All right," Yuna turned to the blonde, "Unlock the door please Rikku."

"Yunie, you can't!" She protested, supported by Red Eyes.

"I'll be fine cousin. I don't think she will harm me. Besides there has to be a gesture of trust somewhere."

"I have no intention of harming anyone unless they are a threat to me."

Red Eyes glared at her for a moment, before indicating to Rikku to step aside and allowing Yuna to open the cell door. As Yuna stepped through, Sonnet could only just see Rikku as she pressed two apparent buttons on her belt. Yuna then blocked her view of the blonde so that all she could see from that direction was a white flash.

"May I?" Yuna indicated the other half of the cot to which Sonnet shrugged, more focussed on Rikku's attire as it had somehow changed. Now she was wearing a pointy purple wide brimmed hat with a blue & white feather at the top, long sleeves that were purple & black with gold trim, a purple wrap around tunic with black edges and what looked like a black girdle which had three thin gold lines wrapping around her stomach while the tunic itself reached her hips. Now covering her legs were gartered stockings that were and purple on the outside, luminous green on the inside, while her feet had black socks and pointy tip sandals covering them. Finally she held a strangely shaped staff in her right hand which included green, blue, purple, and yellow as colours.

"That is an interesting ability," She looked at Rikku as Yuna sat down, leaving some space between them, "Is it magic based?"

"You wanted to know about Sin." Yuna deftly turned the conversation, and Sonnet's attention, back to the topic at hand.

"I did."

"Sin was a powerful creature born of magic and using the souls of those of Zanarkand who survived Bevelle's strikes. The leader of Zanarkand was Yu Yevon, and he was the most powerful Summoner ever known. He didn't want Zanarkand to be forgotten, so he gathered the survivors and used his power to convert them all into entities we know as Fayth, and the power of these Fayth was used to create two things: Dream Zanarkand, so that the city would live in its ideal state forever, and its protector, Sin."

"What is a…Fayth?"

"The result of a process that takes the soul from the body and seals it in stone. Then anyone with strong enough magical power can use these Fayth with pyreflies to create a new physical form. This is called an Aeon."

"And a Summoner can call these Aeons?"

"Yes, they support their Summoner when called."

"So this Yu Yevon created a dream version of Zanarkand using a lot of these entities?"

"Yes, Summoners are those who are gifted with exceptional magical talents."

"All right, for the sake of argument, let us say that I believe you so far. You still have not told me what Sin is."

"Sin was created as a Summon by Yu Yevon to protect Dream Zanarkand, but it became too powerful for even him to control. The process shattered his mind, and the armour he had crafted for the Summon went out of control. It couldn't be destroyed by anything available at the time, until Yu Yevon's daughter provided the means," Yuna held up a hand as she had seen that Sonnet wanted to ask another question, "But these means had a side effect. The solution was known as the Final Aeon, which killed Sin at the cost of the life of the one who had Summoned it."

"Yet it plagued the world for 1,000 years," Sonnet stated, "And you keep using past tense, so I gather it has somehow been destroyed for good?"

"Yes, as was later learned, the Final Aeon was always captured by Sin and used to create the armour anew. This renewal process took 10 years every time, which came to be known as the Calm."

Sonnet was quiet for a short time as her mind processed everything she had heard. A few flashes of a huge metal face and/or guards in silver uniforms slowed her for several seconds, but once she was done she had another question:

"So a Calm is underway now?"

"Yes, this Calm began nearly 4 years ago."

"Which leaves 6 before Sin returns again."

"Nope, not this time!" Rikku chirped from the doorway.

"Oh? So I was right that your using past tense meant it was dead now?" For the first time Sonnet's voice held more than the bland tone she had been using: now she sounded curious, "It took 1,000 years for someone to find a way to completely destroy it?"

"It is more complicated than that as we were also held back in many ways during those 1,000 years."

"I will take your word for that. So this creature will not return again?"

"Nope! We killed it from the inside. No Yu Yevon, no new Sin!" Rikku chipped in again.

"So that makes this the Permanent Calm." Sonnet's face and voice once again betrayed no emotion.

"It is known as the Eternal Calm, but yes, it will last for more than 10 years."

"I see."

"Does that answer your questions?"

"For now, thank you."

"In that case, what can you tell us about yourself?"

"I suppose that is fair. I will tell you if you all tell me who you are after that. I know most of your names, and you know mine. However I do not think my life will be as eventful as what you just told me."

Sonnet leaned back, supporting herself with her arms and hands.

"My earliest memory is waking up in that pod, so deeply underground that I could not sense anything in any direction for approximately 1 mile. After exploring my location, I determined that the structure was cylindrical and consisted of 8 circular floors with many small rooms surrounding a central area on each floor that also contained the staircases. I am certain it was a prison building, and that the small rooms were cells. Since there was no power to the structure, and therefore no lights or heat, I determined that I was not supposed to wake up at all, yet I did. I have no memory of what I did to be locked up, alone, and underground."

"Wait, go back," Red Eyes interrupted, "If there were no lights in the place, how could you explore and learn what you did?"

Sonnet pointed to her eyes: "My eyes, like the rest of me, are more machine than organic. I can see things in various paradigms that you would need specialist equipment for. One of those paradigms is night vision: everything turns dark green or black, depending on how much heat it emits, and everything appears as though it were a clear day."

"That sounds useful!"

"Since I could not find a way out, yet I knew how to operate the pod, I reprogrammed it to awaken me every 10 years so that I could re-examine my surroundings for any change. It was clear that outside intervention would be needed as I could not get out by myself without my power supply running out. That would have caused a permanent shutdown."

"Were you awake when Bevelle found you?"

"No, I believe they located my pod while I was sleeping and relocated it. By surroundings had changed between the 86th and the 87th times I awoke. The pod had been placed in a circular cage attached to crane arms that rotated around a central tower. Silver and yellow uniformed soldiers with old fashioned rifles were guarding the area. I later learned that I was underground once again, beneath a city called Bevelle, and that I was running out of time as my power supply only had 13% charge left, which was less than 5 months."

"So it was a power shortage."

"Yes," Sonnet looked to Rikku, "I get the feeling you know something about me that I have not yet revealed."

She listened as the blonde explained the apparent journals that they had discovered in what they knew as the Bevelle Underground, and the mention of a "Quicksilver" prisoner.

"Yes that was me, and it was known as the Bevelle Underground back then also. I could not remember my name then, so someone coined that name for me. Do you know of the deal they offered me to keep me alive?"

"Protect Vegnagun in exchange for spare power cells." Rikku was now twirling the staff in her hands, maybe no longer thinking of Sonnet as a threat.

_Which I am not, but maybe she just wants me to think that. Red Eyes certainly has not let her guard down._

"Correct, as it was nearing completion at the time. A deal I agreed to as even living on another's terms was preferable to death. The cells they developed were primitive compared to my original one however. That one could last approximately 200 years if I lived a normal life, rather than sleeping in a pod for most of a decade, whereas Bevelle's versions would barely last 5 years."

"They could have made them like that to keep you under their control." Red Eyes suddenly spoke.

"Possibly. I had not considered that."

"So by this point, you had been waking up, checking your surroundings, and returning to sleep for over 800 years?" Yuna seemed to be seeking clarification.

"Correct. I did that for some time, before the soldiers stopped providing them. I am unable to recall why, but I knew I would be without them. As my current one reached Critical, I returned to the pod as they had apparently relocated it in the Underground at some point. The next memory I have is waking up her just now."

Sonnet's eyes looked onto Yuna as she fidgeted before standing.

"You know something." She challenged the High Summoner.

"Yes."

"Please tell me."

"We believe that you last went to sleep right before Sin was born until now. That is at least 1,004 years."

"I see. Given that there was no mention of a creature called "Sin" when I last entered the pod, you may be correct. That means that I have been alive for at least 1,865 years. Even if I was not conscious for a lot of that time."

"That is a very long time. We believe that you might be been born long before the first memory you just described to us. The pod you speak of has a symbol on the sides, which we have learned is that of Esthar, a city that eventually became Zanarkand."

"I find it interesting that you say "born", I may have been created, and therefore always like this." Sonnet held up her metal hand.

"Possibly, but you yourself said "death" a minute ago. Anyway, you wanted to know who we are. My name is Yuna, as you've probably already realised, my Al Bhed cousin over there is Rikku, and the other good friend of ours is Paine. I used to be a Summoner, from the Isle of Besaid…"

* * *

Sonnet looked around the cell again, including the ceiling, wondering if she had overlooked a dent in the wall, or maybe a chip in one of the bars, that could allow her to escape, should she wish to.

She had a good feeling about Yuna and her friends, which was one factor in her decision to stay and earn their trust. The other factor was that her apparently salvaged power supply was unstable and its capacity fluctuated randomly.

_So far it appears that at best I have another 7 years before a replacement is needed, and at worst I have 10 months._

It was convenient, in her opinion, that the calendar hadn't changed from the one she now remembered learning during her time in Bevelle, although the recording of the many Calms caused some confusion as a lot of people referenced a Calm when referring to a year during that Calm. For example the "Eighth Year of Lord Braska's Calm" was a point six years ago, as this was now the "Fourth Year of the Eternal Calm".

Sonnet believed that Yuna and Rikku trusted her, albeit for different reasons, while Paine was indifferent although Sonnet could not determine why as Paine was clearly not the talkative type. Tidus also seemed to trust her, but he made no secret of wanting to learn more about the Zanarkand of the past even though she had repeatedly told him that she had never even been in Zanarkand and therefore had nothing to tell him. Rikku had also be considerate enough to provide her with some clothes, since hers were not in very good condition, resulting in her new attire which was a tan coloured version of the usual Al Bhed desert clothes.

"_**Sorry for the delay," the perky blonde had said as she passed a satchel through the bars, "But finding our clothes in your size wasn't easy. Very few of us are as tall as you."**_

_**Sonnet took the satchel and pulled the garments out, looking at Rikku as she did so.**_

"_**I thought a darker shade was better as it could conceal your metal skeleton too."**_

"_**I appreciate that Rikku. Thank you."**_

The sound of quiet, regular, yet also unfamiliar footsteps reached her ears, yet Sonnet made no effort to turn her head so that she was looking at the cell bars.

"I don't believe you're awake!" A soft spoken voice said, "I was concerned that repairing you would be beyond Rikku's skills, but I'm glad I was wrong."

_So a full week passes between my reawakening and meeting someone else new._ Sonnet mused as she watched the new person's shadow on the ceiling.

"Whoever committed this abuse on you clearly knew what he was doing. And for you to survive without going mad, for so long, speaks well of your strength."

Without moving, Sonnet quietly spoke:

"It is usually considered polite to introduce yourself before attempting to converse with someone you do not know."

"My apologies, you're right. My name is Skye, nice to see you're awake."

"I am Sonnet, and I thank you for your concern."

"You're very welcome. Am I correct in saying that your memories are scrambled?"

"You would be correct, so if you are here to ask me about the past, I advise you not to get your hopes up."

"I'm not here for that. Maybe some other time, but for now I would simply like to talk to you and get to know you."

"For what purpose?" Sonnet now turned her head so that she could see Skye.

"Do I need a reason?" Skye retorted, "There's nothing wrong with being polite and talking to people. I'll admit I find you fascinating from a machina perspective, but that is something that we can discuss at another time."

"That is an interesting word…"machina". I do not suppose it means the same thing as "machines" or "machinery"?"

"Yes, there is a group called the Machine Faction which is working to research and restore old machina. Rikku and I were considering taking you to them if her last idea hadn't worked."

"But it did." _To a degree at least._

"Yep, although it was our last resort as most of the Faction are somewhat…enthusiastic about their work, even for Al Bhed."

"How fortunate in that case, for me."

"Yes," Skye was silent for a few seconds, "So can I talk to you?"

"Feel free," Sonnet sat up and swivelled herself so that she was facing the cell bars now, "But as I said, I can not promise answers."

"We won't know without trying will we?" Skye pointed out as she leaned against the bars, "So does that metal replace every bone in your body?"

"I believe so, although I find it disturbing that so much of it is exposed. I may not be able to recall much of my past, but I am sure I had skin over this alloy."

"Maybe it can't grow while you have a low power supply."

"A logical suggestion, and I have considered that myself. You may be correct. Since the supply on this battery is erratic, there is no way for me to test that suggestion for now."

"Unless we can find or build you a better supply."

"Indeed, although I do not consider that to be very likely given what little I know of this time. How long did it take for this one to be located?" Sonnet gestured to where her heart would be if she were organic.

"A few weeks from what Rikku told me," Skye admitted, "Although such machina…machinery is rare now, which is one of the purposes of the Machine Faction. If the prison building hadn't been found, I doubt you would be awake now."

"A prison building?" It was Sonnet that was curious now.

"Yes, one of our salvage expeditions found it while testing some new scanners or something."

That caused a flicker in her mind, standing in a desert looking up at three large circular buildings arranged in a triad. With her was a redhead and a brunette, and all three of them looked to be keen on whatever they were there to do.

"Was only one building found?"

"As far as I am aware. Why?"

"From your calling it a prison, I believe it is the remains of Galbadia's D-District Prison. Three cylindrical buildings arranged in a triad and able to submerge every level below the top one under the desert to make it next to impossible for their prisoners to escape."

"So we should check the immediate area for two more?"

"I suggest you do so. No more than 200 metres apart as anything greater would prevent the connecting walkways would not extend or retract quickly enough in an emergency."

"That's great information!" Rikku made her presence known, "Did something Skye said trigger that in your mind?"

"Yes, so it is possible I have other fragmented memories."

"Which is good and bad," Rikku's smile faded, "Good because we can learn more about you and our world's past, but bad because we don't know what we need to say to trigger a memory."

"Nor do you have any idea what any additional memories will do to me," Sonnet cautioned, "The last one was potentially useful information. The next could remind me of a dangerous skill I possess, while at the moment, I have no knowledge of."

"I doubt that."

"You are either very optimistic or very naive Rikku," Sonnet smiled slightly, standing now and approaching the bars, "And from what I know of your world's past, that is a commendable trait. But in this case, I would consider it naïve."

Wrapping her hands around two neighbouring bars, Sonnet tensed her arms and pulled in opposing directions, leaving the two bars bent at 45° angles from the floor and ceiling with a 90° bend where her hands were placed.

"It would be a simple matter for me to break these bars and escape, should I choose to."

"So what's stopping you?" Neither woman seemed afraid of the casual demonstration, which had cost her either 2 hours or 3 weeks of her power supply depending on which of the diagnostics she trusted that she could see within her eyes.

"I have no reason or desire to do so. I am stable and calm here, with enough power to last me at least another 9 years. If I were to leave, I will use up that power at a much greater rate and probably expire long before a replacement could be found or developed." Sonnet shifted the bars back into shape as she concluded.

"So why did you tell us that?"

"To demonstrate to you that I may be dangerous."

"Paine mentioned that possibility, but I like to think that she was just being cautious."

"As always." Skye quipped.

"I'd be worried if she wasn't."

"Just like we'd get worried if you became depressed."

"Thanks, I think."

Sonnet found the bantering between friends enjoyable, reminding her of the red hair and dark attire…

"Well, well," Skye interrupted, "You are capable of emotion. You smiled."

"I did not."

"Yep, you did. Remember something else?"

"Nothing tangible, just someone wearing a long black coat, made of leather like a lot of the clothing you Al Bhed wear."

"Sounds like Paine again, she always wears black."

"I had noticed. It is odd though, the woman I saw for a second looked like you."

Skye appeared to be shocked, but Rikku smoothly asked:

"Do you remember her name?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Because we found a couple of message devices buried out in the desert, and one of them contained a message from a woman who looked like Skye," Rikku turned to the redhead, "Remember? Red hair, dark blue eyes, and dressed all in black including a long coat."

"That matches who I saw," Sonnet added as Skye nodded, still a little shocked, the silver haired woman's voice turned thoughtful, "You said two message devices, was the other message left by a woman with dark brown hair, eyes, and wearing mainly white and blue?"

"Nope, sorry, she had blonde hair and blue-green eyes. She could have passed for Al Bhed at a glance. Did you know her?"

"I am not sure. When I remembered the Prison buildings, I saw myself with two other women, as I just described them."

"Friends of yours then? Or maybe colleagues?" Skye speculated, seemingly past her brief shock at the reminded of the messages.

"Perhaps. And I appear to have been correct about this being covered by skin, as I put gloves onto my hands before the three of us entered the prison."

The earlier conversation was repeated for Rikku's benefit before she asked:

"What's Galbadia? We have the name from a very old history record, along with Esthar and Balamb, but no real details."

"Gaia's western continent was called Galbadia," Sonnet recalled, sensing some additional memory fragments fall into place, "The capital was Deling City and nearby towns were Winhill, Timber, Dollet, and…"

"And?" Skye gently prompted.

"I cannot recall. However I can recall that a lot of Galbadia was made up of territory that was annexed for its protection during a War. Territory that Galbadia did not relinquish once the War ended. Timber was constantly fighting for its independence for nearly 20 years after the War, Dollet had some sort of agreement that was mutually beneficial, allowing them to be mostly free but still under Galbadian protection. Winhill was pretty isolated and mostly left alone, although I believe it was a farming town so they could have had trade deals with Deling City in exchange for military protection."

"That is impressive for pieces of memories! Far more than we have in our current history records. We do have a lot of gaps though, especially right before Sin. In fact, I don't think we have much recorded history from Before Sin."

"And you hope I have some of those missing pieces in my head?" Sonnet realised.

"That is one of the reasons we wanted to help you," Skye cautiously admitted, "But not our main reason. That was because we thought you should get a chance to live for yourself."

"Well, thank you. I can understand and respect your desire to learn, but I suspect I will not be as useful to you as you are hoping for."

"You're welcome, and we shall see. Finding or building a spare battery for you is my main priority now. And I also came here with an offer for you."

"Which is?"

"As long as you stay with me, Yunie, Paine, or Tidus when we're in Home, we're willing to let you out of that cell. When we are away however, we request that you stay in my workshop."

"An expanded version of house arrest." Sonnet's statement gained confused looks from the other women, so she elaborated, "House arrest is a type of punishment for criminals: instead of being sent to a prison, they would simply be unable to leave their homes or a similar defined area. So instead of being confined to just a single room like this cell, I would gain some additional privacy while being confined to several rooms or a specified area, such as your workshop. Do you understand?"

"I think so," Rikku was smiling again, "So what do you say to this "house arrest" instead of confinement in here?"

"It took the four of you a week to decide this and you are still willing to make that offer after what I showed you?"

"Yes, because I don't think you're a killer, or dangerous and any extra memories you recover will prove that. Besides, we clearly can't contain you unless you allow us to, so it wouldn't make a difference if you were in this cell or my workshop."

"You make a very good point. And there is also my lack of knowledge about this time. I know this Home of yours is in a desert, which probably covers the whole island as I can smell salt water which means an ocean is nearby. Otherwise, I am completely ignorant about your time, so even if I tried to escape, I would not know where to go."

"Would you attempt to escape?" Skye asked.

"In my current state? No. But if I were to learn more about myself from these unpredictable triggers, I may wish to be elsewhere."

"I suppose that's fair. So, do you accept?"

"Yes, it would be nice to stretch my legs and see a little more of this Home of yours. And do not worry, I feel certain that I have a holographic memory, so the route from here to your workshop will only need to be shown once, and I will always recall it afterwards."

"Good to hear. And your expression isn't quite right as we've never considered you a criminal. You were only in here as a precaution," Rikku took a key from inside her arm glove and unlocked the cell door, "Which I for one am glad to see was unnecessary."

_So far._ Sonnet thought as she stood and walked towards the open door, half expecting Rikku to close it and lock her back inside before she could leave the cell. However, she didn't and Sonnet quickly found herself walking just behind Rikku and Skye as they lead her through Home, memorising what she could see and hear as they walked.


End file.
